
Glass C^3^A_ 

Book .-JM_ S3. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



THE 



LIFE AND TIMES 



OF 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



BY 

\ 



SAMUEL M. SMUCKER, A.M., 

u 

AUTHOR OF "the court AND REIGN OF CATHERINE lU," "EMPEROR 
NICHOLAS I.," "memorable SCENES IN FRENCH HISTORY," ETC. 




PHILADELPHIA : 
J. W. BRADLEY, No. 48 N FOURTH ST. 

18 5 7. 



E'i? 



■i. 



.4 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

J. W. BRADLEY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern 

District of Pennsylvania. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

STEREOTYPED BY OEORQE CHARLES. 

PRINTED BY KINQ t BAIRD. 



PREFACE. 



The want of a complete and satisfactory yet suc- 
cinct and popular life of Alexander Hamilton, has 
long been felt by the reading public ; and when we 
remember the very eminent position which he occu- 
pies in American history, it is somewhat singular 
that no attempt has been made to execute such a 
work. The Memoir published by his son, John C. 
Hamilton, is excellent as far as it goes; although it is 
not only unfinished, but is also too cumbersome and 
diftuse for the popular reader. The small work of 
Dr. Renwick, though well adapted to the purpose 
for which it was written, was necessarily very super- 
ficial and incomplete. I am not aware that any 
other reliable Memoir of Hamilton is ? ;} existence. 

In the preparation of the following pages, I have 
freely used and appropriated all the sources of infor- 
mation which were accessible to me on the subject. 
1* (v) 



VI PREFACE. 

These include the most important publications 
which were cotemporary with the events narrated ; 
together with all the published works of Hamilton, 
and the existing biographies of himself, his asso- 
ciates, and his opponents. The fierce passions and 
jealousies of that memorable era in which Hamil- 
ton figured and flourished, have now been laid to 
rest in the slumber of the tomb ; and he who at- 
tempts at the present day to write the history of 
this great man, may claim at least one advantage 
over his predecessors — that he has no temptation 
from party prejudice and bias, either to color, ex- 
aggerate, or suppress the truth. 

The remarkable incidents of Hamilton's career 
will never lose their singular power to attract and 
instruct mankind ; for they furnish impressive illus- 
trations both of the brightest and the basest ele- 
ments of human character. The brightest all ap- 
pertained to himself; the basest belonged to those 
by whom he was surrounded and assailed. Few 
men have ever lived whose virtues were so trans- 
cendent, whose motives were so disinterested, whose 
usefulness was so extensive and so permanent ; yet 
there never lived a man against whom the envioi-«, 



PREFACE. Vll 

the malicious, and the vile, fabricated so many 
baseless and absurd slanders, and illustrated by 
the aspersions which they cast upon him, and by 
the filthy slime of their hate with which they en- 
deavored to pollute him, how despicable humanity 
in their own persons could become. To a very 
eminent degree Hamilton paid the natural pen- 
alty which superior genius and distinction must 
always suffer from the envious, the disappointed, 
and the obscure. 

With the lapse of time the false impressions 
which once existed in reference to the political 
principles and personal qualities of the subject of 
this history, have gradually become, in a great 
measure, rectified. I have attempted in the fol- 
lowing pages to aid in accomplishing this result. 
My endeavor has been to describe Hamilton pre- 
cisely as he was ; neither to set down aught in 
malice, nor yet unfairly to extenuate. I remem- 
bered the severe order given by Cromwell to the 
limner who executed his portrait, to paint him as 
he was, and not to omit the warts which embel- 
lished his stern visage. Such defects as Hamilton 
really possessed have not been overlooked. The 



Viii PREFACE. 

immortal statesman and orator would himself have 
directed his biographers thus to write of him, had 
he lived to guide and counsel them. And after 
having thus been true to history in exhibiting what 
may have been defective in the principles or the 
conduct of Hamilton, we are convinced that every 
impartial reader must admit that, if Washington 
is esteemed first in war, in peace, and in the hearts 
of his countrymen, Hamilton, beyond all question, 
deserves to be regarded as the second. 

Samuel M. Smucker. 

Philadelphia, November, 1856. 



CONTENTS. 



FAOS 

Preface 5 

INTRODUCTION. 

Mission of American Statesmen — First Colony Founded in 
America — Successive Establishment of all the American 
Colonies— Their Growth— The " Old French War"— Sub- 
sequent History of the Colonies — The Stamp Act — Con- 
duct of the British Parliament — Outbreak of the Revo- 
lutionary Struggle — First Meeting of the Continental 
Congress — Declaration of American Independence — The 
Grand Drama begins 15 

CHAPTER I. 
Birth of Alexander Hamilton — His Ancestors — His Early 
Schooling — Enters a Counting-house — Propitious Acci- 
dent — Sails for New York — His Studies at Elizabethtown 
— He enters Columbia College — His Studious Habits and 
Progress — His First Public Oration — Its Effects and Pro- 
mise of Future Success 25 

CHAPTER II. 

Colonial Affairs in New York in 1774 — Dr. Cooper — Dr. 
Ingles — Dr. Seabury — Hamilton's First Political Pam- 
phlet — Its Merits and Effects — Increase of Hamilton's 
Fame — Incidents of 1775 — He enters the Continental 
Army in 1776 — Is appointed Private Secretary and Aid- 
de-Camp to Washington — Gains Washington's entire 

Confidence — His Conduct in his New Sphere 34 

(ix) 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

PAGE 

Events of 1777 — Conspiracy against Washington in the 
Army and in Congress — Hamilton's Mission to Gates — 
His Success — Events of 1778 — Hamilton's Conduct at 
Monmouth — Lee's Retreat — Lee's Subsequent Court Mar- 
tial — Hamilton's Growing Fame — His Popularity with 
the Army — Lafayette 59 

CHAPTER IV. 

Events of 1780 — Financial Difficulties of the Colonies — Ha- 
milton's Financial Schemes — Robert Morris — Bank of 
United States Proposed — Hamilton's Letter to Robert 
Morris — French Aid sent to the Colonies — Causes of the 
Friendly Interposition of France — Treason of Arnold — 
Hamilton's Projects for the National Prosperity — His 
Letter to James Duane — Hamilton appointed Minister 
to France — He Declines 73 

CHAPTER V. 

Marriage of Hamilton — Quarrel between Hamilton and 
Washington — Hamilton Retires from the Camp — His 
Plan of a National Bank — Writes the Continentalist — 
He Returns to the Camp — Incidents at Yorktown — He- 
roism of Hamilton at the Capture of Cornwallis — Glo- 
rious Results of that Victory — Hamilton Returns to 
Albany — Commences the Study of the Law — Is Ap- 
pointed Receiver of Continental Taxes — His Admission 
ta the Bar. 91 

CHAPTER VI. 

Hamilton Elected a Member of Congress — His Activity 
there — His Financial Expedients — Revolutionary Claims 
— Assists in Arranging the Preliminaries of Peace be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain — Claims of the 
Continental Army on Congress — His Views on Taxation 
and Imports — Supports the Establishment of a Military 
Hospital — His Labors as Chairman of the Military Com- 
mittee — Revolt among the Pennsylvania Troops of the 
Continental Army 122 



CONTENTS. Xi 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGB 

Hamilton Returns to Albany — Resumes the Practice of 
the Law — Particulars Respecting the First Case — His 
Forensic Learning and Eloquence — His Publication of 
" Phocion" — Its Effects — He Drafts his Constitution of 
the Bank of New York — Hamilton's Views on the Sub- 
ject of American Stavery — His Conduct in Reference 
to a Slave — Lafayette's Opinions on the same subject. . . 146 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Establishment of the Society of the Cincinnati — Its Consti- 
tution and Purposes — Popular Prejudice against it — Jef- 
ferson's Opinions in Reference to it — The Convention at 
Annapolis — Hamilton's Activity and Influence in that 
Body — Is Elected a Member of the New York Legisla- 
ture — His Labors there — Is the meang of Establishing 
the New York University 161 

CHAPTER IX. 

Difficulties between the States of Vermont and New York — 
Hamilton's Speech on the Subject — A Federal Constitu- 
tion Proposed by Hamilton — Condition and Wants of the 
Country — Articles of Confederation — Virginia Proposes 
a Federal Convention — Hamilton Chosen to Represent the 
State of New York in it — His Important Labors in that 
Convention — Drafts the Constitution of the United States 
— Provisions of that Constitution — Great Difficulties to 
be Overcome — Its Final Adoption 176 

CHAPTER X. 

The First Election of Federal Officers — Reluctance of Wash- 
ington to accept the Presidency — His Letters on the sub- 
ject — Washington is Elected President — vState of Parties 
in the United States at that time — Selection of Washing 
ton's Cabinet — Hamilton chosen Secretary of the Trea- 
sury — His first Report on Public Credit — His Report on 
the Revenue — Origin of the Animosity between Hamil- 
ton and Jefferson — Hamilton's Report on a National Bank 



XU CONTENTS. 

BAOX 

— Controversy respecting State Power and Federal Rights 
— Fierce conflicts in Washington's Cabinet — His attempt 
to Harmonize its Members 206 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Authorship of the Federalist — Its Relative Position in 
American Literature — The Period of its Publication — Its 
General Scope and Purpose — Its Specific Parts or Sub- 
divisions — Its General Conclusions and Results — its Pe- 
culiarities of Style — Its Clearness — Beauty — Logical 
Power — Metaphysical Profundity — Colossal Thoughts — • 
Antithetical Force — Employs Contributions and Illustra- 
tions from every Department of Science — Influence of the 
Federalist on American Affairs — Its Foreign Fame and 
Influence — Its future Conservative Influence on the Ame- 
rican Union 257 

CHAPTER XII. 

Proceedings of M. Genet — Remonstrance of the British 
Minister — Conflicts in the Cabinet — Opinion of Hamilton 
respecting Prizes taken in War — Le Petit Democrat — 
Hamilton's Report on the Public Credit — His various 
other Reports as Secretary of the Treasury — He Writes 
his celebrated Pacificus — Changes in Washington's Ca- 
binet — Hamilton Resigns as Secretary of the Treasury — 
Opposition of Albert Gallatin to Washington — Hamil- 
ton Vindicates the President 282 

CHAPTER Xin. 

Charge of Official Fraud made against Hamilton — He De- 
fends Himself — Afi'air of Maria Reynolds — Conspiracy to 
Extort Money — Perverted by Hamilton's Enemies to serve 
Party Purposes — His Final and Triumphant Vindication 
of Himself — Hamilton Devotes himself to the Labors of his 
Profession — Writes Camillus — Threatened War with 
France — Active Measures of Defense taken by the United 
States — The Difficulties Finally Adjusted — Hamilton Pub- 
lishes Manlius and The Stand — He Writes Washington's 
Farewell Address 300 



CONTENTS. XUl 



CHAPTER XIV. 



New York Political Parties — Their Origin and History — 
The Whigs and Tories — General Schuyler — George Clin- 
ton — Aaron Burr — His Political Career — Burr's Efforts 
in 1800 to Secure the Triumph of the Anti-federal Party 
in New York — Hamilton's Energetic Efforts to Defeat 
them — Burr Elected Vice-President of the United States 
• — Death of Hamilton's Son in a Duel — Observations of 
Burr in reference to this Event 319 

CHAPTER XV. 

Growing Hostility between Burr and Hamilton — Their Re- 
spective Qualities and Dissimilarity of Character — Burr 
becomes a Candidate for the office of Governor of New 
York — He is Defeated by the Efforts of Hamilton — Commu- 
nication of Dr. Cooper — First Letter of Burr to Hamilton 
— Hamilton's Reply — The succeeding Correspondence be- 
tween them — Futile Efforts at Conciliation 330 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Burr's Explanation of his Grievances — Mr. Van Ness — -Judge 
Pendleton — Hamilton's Honorable Concessions — Burr 
Challenges Hamilton — The Challenge Accepted — Further 
Attempts of Judge Pendleton to conciliate and avoid a 
Meeting— His Failure 342 



'n 



CHAPTER XVIT. 

Hamilton Prepares for the Meeting — His Will — His Written 
Testimony against Duelling — Time iind Place for the In- 
terview Appointed — Meeting of the Parties — Rules to 
Govern their Conduct — Hamilton falls.. 355 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Nature of Hamilton's Wound — He is Removed to the 
House of Mr. Bayard — His Interview with Dr. Mason — 
His Interview with Bishop Moore — He Receives the 
Lord's Supper — His Religious Opinions — His Last Inter- 
view with his Family— His Death — His Funeral — Oration 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

of Gouverneur Morris — Universal Sorrow at his Death — 
Remarks of Burr on Hamilton's Death 366 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Effects of Hamilton's Death^ — His Peculiar Intellectual 
Qualities — His Logical Powers — His Fertile Imagination 
— His Profound Learning — His Untiring Industry — His 
Abilities as a Writer — His Eloquence as a Speaker — His 
Moral Qualities — His Integrity — His Sincerity — His For- 
titude as a Soldier — His Unequaled Abilities as a States- 
man and Patriot — His Failings — His Duel with Burr — 
His Personal Appearance — Subsequent History of Mrs. 
Hamilton — Her Interview with Aaron Burr — Her Death 
—Fate of Burr ;;83 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



INTEODUCTIOIT. 

MISSION OP AMERICAN STATESMEN — FIRST COLONY FOUNDED IN AMERICA 

— STTCCESSITE ESTABLISHMENT OP ALL THE AMERICAN COLONIES 

THEIR GROWTH — THE "OLD FRENCH WAR" SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF 

THE COLONIES — THE STAMP ACT — CONDUCT OP THE BRITISH PARLIA- 
MENT — OUTBREAK OP THE HETOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE — FIRST MEETING 
OP THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS — DECLARATION OP AMERICAN INDE- 
PENDENCE — THE GRAND DRAMA BEGINS. 

The genius and enterprise of Columbus dis- 
covered an unknown world ; but it fell to the lot 
of other men to perform the noble task of adorn- 
ing that world with the triumphs of civilization, 
with the trophies of art and science, with fair, 
stately, and enduring structures of civil and reli- 
gious liberty. In the accomplishment of this mis- 
sion, some of the most remarkable personages who 
ever lived were called into prominence and activity ; 
and in the fulfillment of the destiny designated for 
them by Providence, they won for themselves undy- 
ing names, and erected monumenta cere peretwiiora, 

which will engage and retain the admiration of 

(15) 



16 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

men in all coming time. One of the most distin- 
guished of these was Alexander Hamilton. 

As the life and abilities of this great man were 
devoted to the establishment of the government, 
and the attainment of the liberties of the American 
confederacy, it may not be inappropriate to preface 
the history of his remarkable career, by a brief 
survey of those events which immediately preceded 
his appearance on the scene of action, and which 
directly prepared the way for his own subsequent 
achievements. 

The first attempt to found a colony in the new 
world was made by Sir Walter Raleigh, in the year 
1585. It failed ; but the enterprise was more suc- 
cessfully renewed by Captain John Smith, in Vir- 
ginia, in 1607. That colony located at Jamestown 
was destined to live, though brought on several 
critical occasions to the verge of ruin. In the same 
year a small colony was also attempted on the 
Kennebec River, but it did not succeed. Yet the 
reports which were conveyed to England, in refer- 
ence to the new continent, were the cause of the 
emigration of the Puritans, who, in 1620, founded 
the Plymouth colony in the province of Massachu- 
setts. In 1636 the colony of Rhode Island was 
commenced by Roger Williams ; and in the same year 
that of Connecticut was established by a clergyman 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 17 

named Hooker, who, like Williams, was an emi- 
grant and an exile from Massachusetts. In 1623 IS'ew 
Hampshire was first settled, Maine in 1635, Maryland 
in 1633, South Carolina in 1650, ISTew York about 
1600, New Jersey in 1664, and Pennsylvania in 1682. 
The other colonies were afterward founded and 
established at successive periods ; sometimes by 
emigration from the older communities already 
named, and sometimes by direct emigration from 
the countries of Europe. Georgia was the last of 
the thirteen original colonies which was estab- 
lished, having been founded by General Oglethorp, 
in 1732. 

During the progress of a century this family of 
incipient empires flourished together in harmony ; 
gradually increasing their strength, numbers, and 
resources. The only foe with whom they had to 
contend were the fierce savages of the primitive 
wilds, whose ancient and untilled heritage they had 
rudely appropriated to themselves. Many dark and 
bloody scenes were enacted between the belligerent 
races, some of the thrilling details of which have 
now descended to oblivion ; but stout hearts were 
often requisite in those primeval times, to resist 
undismayed the vengeance of the despoiled and 
enraged children of the forest. 

In 1754 the first conflict with an external and 
2* 



18 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

civilized foe took place. Then the old French war 
occurred between the British colonies, and those of 
the French, in Canada, and along the Mississippi. 
The question of boundary between England and 
France had, for many years, been a subject of use- 
less and unavailing negotiation. The sword alone 
seemed able to solve the difficulty. In 1753 France 
endeavored, by establishing a chain of military 
posts along the Ohio River and the Lakes, to con- 
nect together their possessions in Canada with those 
on the Mississippi, and thus to confine the British 
colonists to a small and narrow territory along the 
Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps eventually even to 
expel them entirely from the country. Various 
conflicts ensued between the British and French 
colonial troops. In 1T55 the memorable defeat 
of Braddock took place at Fort Du Quesne, and 
during three succeeding campaigns the French con- 
tinued to triumph. On the accession of William 
Pitt to the British ministry in 1756, the tide of 
conquest was turned, the French were repeatedly 
routed, and in 1762, after hostilities had raged for 
eight years, a general peace was concluded, b}' which 
France ceded Canada to Britain ; and Spain, un- 
willius: to encounter the uncertainties of a conflict 
with a triumphant and formidable power, ex- 
changed the Floridas for Cuba. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 19 

The British colonies then continued to flourish 
with increased prosperity ; but a dark cloud began 
to hover over them. In 1765, under the auspices 
of Mr. Grenville, the British minister, the British 
parliament passed the celebrated and obnoxious 
Stamp Act, by which it was enacted that all legal 
instruments should be written only on stamped 
paper or parchment, in order to be valid. The 
price of this stamped paper was excessive ; and 
during the seven months which elapsed before the 
act was ordered to take effect, the voice of murmur 
and discontent began to be heard in the American 
colonies. At first that discontent was uttered in 
whispers. It then became louder and louder. At 
length it sounded in thunder-tones, which reverbe- 
rated over the whole length and breadth of the 
continent. The first organized resistance was made 
in the Virginia House of Burgesses. There, for 
the first time, the eloquent voice of Patrick Henry 
was heard, and he concluded his first speech in 
defense of American liberties, by declaring: — 
"That every individual who, by speaking or act- 
ing, should assert or maintain that any person or 
body of men, except the General Assembly of the 
province, had any right to impose taxation there, 
should be deemed an enemy to his majesty's colony." 
Soon the flame spread far and wide. The Assembly 



20 THE LIFE AND TIMES ■ 

of Massachusetts passed a resolution in favor of 
the meeting of a Continental Congress, and pro- 
posed a day for its convocation in the city of Kew 
York. The proposition was accepted by all the 
other colonies, excepting four, and their deputies 
assembled at the appointed time. But their mea- 
sures were as yet indecisive; and they adjourned 
without having accomplished any thing, except the 
adoption of a Declaration of Rights. 

When the time arrived for the Stamp Act to go 
into operation, it was generally disregarded through- 
out the colonies. Associations were formed against 
importing British manufactures until the law should 
be repealed. The lawyers were prohibited from 
commencing any suits for money due to any 
inhabitant of England. The consequence of these 
vigorous measures was that in March, 1766, the 
British parliament repealed the obnoxious law. 
But at the same time they passed an act authoriz- 
ing duties on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea 
imported into the colonies. The parliament doubt- 
less supposed that if the colonists could abandon 
the use of stamped paper, they could not deny 
themselves the luxuries and conveniences of life. 
This measure only kindled the fires of opposition 
and rebellion still more fiercely than before. The 
Assembly of Massachusetts, having passed resolu- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 21 

tions exceeding in boldness and severity those of 
any other deliberative body in the colonies, were ^ 
dissolved by George III. In 1768, Mr. Hancock's 
sloop Liberty was seized at Boston, for not having 
entered all the wines contained in her cargo ; and 
British ships and regiments were sent to Boston to 
aid the British revenue officers. The colonies re- 
mained hostile and rebellions. This attitude of af- 
fairs induced the repeal, in 1770, of all the obnox- 
ious duties, excepting that imposed upon tea. Large " 
consignments of this article were sent by the British 
East India Company to several American ports. 
In New York and Philadelphia the popular fury 
prevented the attempt to discharge the cargoes. 
At Boston, the tea sent for the supply of that port 
being consigned to the particular friend of the Bri- 
tish governor, Hutchinson, seemed to be in a fair 
way of delivery, when a party of patriots, disguised 
as Indians, boarded the ships, broke open the boxes 
and threw the contents into the sea. 

The British parliament became enraged at this 
decisive step. They passed an act by which they 
closed the port of Boston, and removed its custom- 
house and trade to Salem. They remodeled the 
charter of the colony of Massachusetts, by which 
the whole executive government was taken from 
the people, and the nomination and appointment to 



22 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

all important offices was vested in the crown. Thus 
the property, life and liberty of the colonists were 
subjected to the arbitrary caprice of the British 
monarch. 

This act of outrageous and unwarranted despot- 
ism threw the whole continent into a blaze of pa- 
triotic indignation, w^iich was increased when Gen- 
eral Gage arrived at Boston, in 1774, with a large 
British force, with the avowed purpose of dragoon- 
ing the rebellious inhabitants into submission. 
His troops took military possession of Boston, and 
fortified it. At this crisis all the colonies, then 
thirteen in number, determined to summon a Con- 
tinental Congress, for the purpose of deliberating 
on the existing state of their affairs, and ascertain- 
ing what course they would in future pursue. The 
deputies met in Philadelphia on the 5th of Septem,- 
ber, 1774. Fifty-four delegates appeared, and took 
their seats in the first Continental Congress. They 
met in a now obscure building entitled Carpenter's 
Hall, which deserves the immortal honor of be- 
ing the birthplace of the American republic. Pey- 
ton Randolph of Virginia was chosen president. 
Among them were found the Adamses, the Living- 
stons, the Henrys, the Lees, the Randolphs, the 
Rutl edges, and the Jays. It was here that the 
matchless and thrilling eloquence of Patrick Henry 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 23 

was first heard in the Congress of the nation. 
After its organization, he was the first to break the 
long and painful pause which ensued. He spoke, 
and the pathos and power of that great speech have 
been recorded and remembered by generations since, 
and the fame of it has gone forth over all the world. 
The Congress unanimously published a Declaration 
of Rights, formed an association not to import or 
use British goods, sent a petition to the King of 
England, published an address to the inhabitants 
of that kingdom, another to the residents of Ca- 
nada, and a third to the citizens of the colonies. 

Incensed by these decisive measures the British 
parliament, instead of retracing their steps or con- 
ciliating the malecontents, passed an act restraining 
the trade of the middle and southern colonies to 
Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies. This 
additional outrage aroused the patriotic indignation 
of the whole country. The day for the amicable 
adjustment of the difficulties between the colonies 
and the mother country had now passed by forever. 
Preparations were industriously made throughout 
all the States for conflict with the British forces, 
and soon the lurid flames of war were kindled. 
The first revolutionary blood was spilt at Lex- 
iiie:tou. That battle aroused the continent 
throuo-hout the full extent of its countless vales. 






24 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

its fertile plains, its pathless forests, and its moun- 
tain heights. The glorious struggle for liberty had 
in fact begun. In July, 1776, Congress proclaimed 
the Declaration of American Independence; and 
immediately afterward General Washington as- 
sumed the command of the continental army, then 
assembled around the British batteries at Boston. 
Another era of immortal deeds had dawned upon 
the world, and the chief actors were preparing to 
enter on the stage and play their destined parts. 



A 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 25 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON — HIS ANCESTORS — HIS EARLY SCHOOL- 
ING — ENTERS A COUNTING-HOUSE — PROPITIOUS ACCIDENT — SAILS FOR 
NEW YORK — HIS STUDIES AT ELIZABETH-TOWN — HE ENTERS COLUMBIA 
COLLEGE — HIS STUDIOUS HABITS AND PROGRESS — HIS FIRST PUBLIC 
ORATION — ITS EFFECTS AND PROMISE OF FUTURE SUCCESS. 

Alexander Hamilton was a native of the Island 
of Nevis, in the British "West Indies.-^He was born ^ 
on the eleventh day of January, 17^9C^ His ances- "O, 
tors on the paternal side were Scotch; and were ~v^ 
connected with the great clan of the Hamilton s, /^ 
which has long possessed no inconsiderable conse- 
quence in Scottish history. His father had been 
reared in Scotland to mercantile pursuits ; and being 
allured by the favorable prospects of trade which in- 
vited him to St. Christopher, he removed thither 
when comparatively young, and had there engaged 
in business. 

Hamilton's mother was of French extraction, and 
was directly descended from one of those noble old 
Hugonots who, after the infamous revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., in 1685, had deserted 
his native land rather than basely betray his religion, 
and had sought a refng-e and a home on one of the 
3 (25) 



26 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

blooming and verdant islands, whicli lie embosomed 
amid the western main. The mother of Hamilton 
was a woman of superior intelligence and rare beauty. 
When very young she had married a wealthy Dane, 
named Lavine, against her own wishes, at the in- 
stance of her family. But the parties w^ere quite 
uncongenial in their tastes and characters ; and the 
union proving a source of much misery to the lady, 
she applied for and' obtaineti a divorce. She then 
removed to St. Christopher, and several years after- 
ward became the wife of James Hamilton, and the 
mother of Alexander. 

Whilst he was very young, Hamilton's mother 
unfortunately died, and left him to the charitable 
care and protection of her relatives. They did not 
neglect the trust, and sent the orphan boy to school 
at Vera Cruz. His father was at that time very 
much impoverished, and he remained in that condi- 
tion until his death in 1799. Alexander, who was 
diminutive for his age, was entirely dependent on 
his mother's relatives not only for support, but also 
for the future guidance of his life. Yet at this early 
period the superior intelligence of the child attracted 
general attention ; and those who were interested in 
his fate already began to indulge hopes of a brighter 
future for him, than the misfortunes of the com- 
mencement of his career had seemed to presage. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 27 

Yet the extent of liis literary advantages was very 
limited. His schooling did not long continue. He 
had the good fortune at that time to enlist the 
charitable regard of a Presbyterian clergyman name<I 
Knox, and from him he received some useful in- 
struction and manv valuable hints. These were of 
great service to a j^outh so intelligent and so ardent 
in the pursuit of knowledge as Hamilton ; but he 
was compelled by circumstances to relinquish his 
studies in 1769, and enter the counting-house of 
Nicholas Cruger at Vera Cruz, In this situation he 
devoted himself attentively to the details of business; 
and his superior abilities and probity soon secured 
him the confidence of his employer. At the age of 
fourteen he was intrusted by him with the entire 
care of his establishment, during his absence on a 
visit to the United States in 1770. 

Nevertheless during the period of Hamilton's con- 
nection with Mr. Cruger, his active and inquiring 
mind was not content with the mere details and 
responsibilities of business, but he employed his 
leisure in extending his knowledge. He studied 
mathematical science, chemistry, history, and gene- 
ral literature. He seemed to be conscious that a 
higher destiny awaited him, than that which lay 
immediately before and around him; and he was 
assiduous in the acquisition of knowledge and the 



28 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

training of those superior faculties whose mighty 
and restless energies he already felt working within 
him. 

Wliile thus uncertain as to his future destiny, an 
accident occurred which immediately gave it a para- 
mount and an appropriate direction. In 1772 a 
furious and destructive tornado, such as the tropical 
climes alone experience, swept over the Leeward 
Islands of the West Indies, carrying ruin and deso- 
lation along its pathway. The stoutest hearts were 
appalled hy the fearful havoc which ensued ; and 
while the public mind was still filled with awe and 
consternation at its efiects, a description of the hur- 
ricane and of its consequences appeared in the public 
journal of the Island of St. Christopher. 

In this event originated the future greatness and 
celebrity of Hamilton. The description in question 
was written with such ability, and bore throughout 
such unquestionable evidences of a superior intellect, 
that it attracted universal attention, and inquiries 
were industriously made for its author. When it 
was discovered that a lad so young, so small, so 
friendless as Hamilton, had penned that powerful 
production, the interest was increased tenfold ; and 
many friends arose around him who offered to send 
him to the United States in oi'der to complete his edu- 
cation. He gladly embraced the opportunity. He 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 29 

received letters of introduction from Mr. Knox to 
Dr. Mason and other distinguished clergymen in 
New York, and ample means were furnished him 
for his immediate support. In October, 1772, he 
sailed from the West Indies; bade farewell to the 
home of his childhood ; and set foot on that land 
with whose rising splendors his own name and fame 
were destined afterward to become so closely and so 
honorably identified. 

Having arrived in New York and presented his 
letters of introduction, Hamilton concluded, in ac- 
cordance with the advice of his friends, to commence 
his studies at the Grammar-school of Elizabeth- 
town, then ably conducted by Francis Barber. His 
industry and application here were such as to war- 
rant the brightest prospects of his future success. 
In winter he frequently continued his studies till 
midnight. In summer the early hour of six found 
him intently at his books. Scarcely a year elapsed 
before he was deemed fit, by his instructors, to enter 
college. He accordingly visited Dr. Witherspoon, 
at that time president of Princeton College, for the 
purpose of being admitted to the Freshman class. 
Hamilton however desired to make one condition 
with the faculty of the college, preliminary to his 
matriculation, — a condition which furnishes singular 
evidence both of his attainments, of his future pur- 
3* 



80 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

poses of application, and of his confidence in the 
success of his endeavors. He wished to stipulate 
that he might be permitted to advance from one 
class to another, not by the usual gradations of pro- 
gress but with as much rapidity as his improvement 
in learning would enable him to do. This proviso 
was in opposition to the usages and rules of the col- 
lege; for if it were granted to one, it might be 
demanded by many ; and such an arrangement would 
soon throw all the classes into confusion. In re- 
fusing his application Dr. Witherspoon however 
added, that he regretted the necessity which pre- 
vented him from complying with Mr. Hamilton's 
request, " inasmuch as he was convinced that the 
young gentleman would do honor to any seminary 
in which he should be educated." 

Hamilton proceeded from Princeton to New 
York, and there entered the institution now known 
as Columbia College. In addition to the usual col- 
legiate course he studied anatomy. He then thought 
it not improbable that he might devote his future 
life to the profession of medicine. He is repre- 
sented as being, even at this early period of his 
life, unusually devout; that he was regular in his 
attendance on public worship ; that he prayed night 
and morning on his knees ; that his prayers were 
marked by unusual eloquence and fervor ; and that 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 31 

he was a firm and sincere believer in the truth and 
divine origin of Christianity. One of his poetical 
productions at this time was a hymn entitled the 
"Soul entering into bliss." Yet he was remarkable 
also for the cheerfulness and elasticity of his tem- 
per, and was not reluctant occasionally to enter 
into every species of innocent and honorable amuse- 
ment. 

But the most stirring and portentous times were 
now approaching in the land of his adoption ; and 
while Hamilton was still a member of the college, 
his great talents were drawn out into active play 
by the force of unexpected circumstances, while 
yet a mere youth. At the early age of seventeen 
he took his place prominently among American 
orators and patriots ; and his great political and na- 
tional career may be said to have commenced before 
he left the quiet and contemplative shades of the 
academy. 

The circumstances of the case were these. In 
the year 1769, the colony of New York, like the 
rest of the nation, w^as in a state of intense excite- 
ment. Resistance to the increasing tyranny of the 
British crown had already begun. Furious conflicts 
daily arose between the incensed populace and the 
civil and military powers of the colony. A duty 
having been laid on tea, the British ministry deter- 



32 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

mined that none of that article should be imported 
except through the East India Company, whose 
privileges were exorbitant. The people determined 
to resist this arbitrary enactment — the forerunner, 
as they justly feared, of other and more detestable 
encroachments on their liberties. The British min- 
isters then took the first step of retaliation, and, 
as we have said, closed the port of Boston — an 
act of the most ruinous tyranny. A resolution 
being formed to summon a general Continental 
Congress, to take into consideration the existing 
evils and the peculiar state of the country, de- 
legates were to be elected to this Congress from 
the State of New York. The republicans or pa- 
triots desired that these delegates should be chosen 
by the whole mass of the people. The British min- 
istry claimed the exclusive right to nominate them. 
On July 6th, 1774, a great assembly of the people 
was held in the suburbs of the city of New York, 
and this meeting at last determined to take deci- 
sive steps. But harmony of sentiment did not by 
any means pervade the assembly. The ministry 
were not without the aid of their hired representa- 
tives among its members present ; and the discus- 
sions were both animated, hostile, and bitter. 

It was on this interesting and important occasion 
that Alexander Hamilton, then seventeen years of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 33 

age, ventured to come forward to address the mul- 
titude. At first, the youthful appearance and di- 
minutive form of the orator, operated strongly 
against him. He also displayed that modesty and 
hesitation of manner which is usually an attendant 
of the first inexperienced efforts of great oratorical 
ahilities. But he had not proceeded far in his 
address before he recovered his self-confidence, 
and then the vigor of his thoughts, the clearness 
and precision of his language, the force of his 
reasoning, his eloquence, his pathos, his persua- 
sive power, as well as the singular appropriateness 
of his delivery, commanded the most intense 
admiration. "When he concluded his speech, his 
ability and fame had been placed beyond the reach 
of dispute or question ; and he became at once a 
person of consequence, around whom the future 
hopes and interests of the patriots clustered. He 
was thenceforward known in New York as the 
"eloquent collegian." Yet notwithstanding this 
flattering opening of his public career, Hamilton 
still retained for the present his connection with 
the college, and continued to pursue his studies 
there with his former earnestness and diligence. 



S4 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER II. 

COLONIAL AFFAIRS IN NEW YORK IN 1774 — DR, COOPER — DR. INGLES — 
DR. SEABURY — HAMILTON'S FIRST POLITICAL PAMPHLET — ITS MERITS 
AND EFFECTS — INCREASE OP HAMILTON'S FAME — INCIDENTS OF 1775 — 
HE ENTERS THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN 1776 — IS APPOINTED PRIVATE 
SECRETARY AND AID-DE-CAMP TO WASHINGTON — GAINS WASHINGTON'S 
ENTIRE CONFIDENCE — HIS CONDUCT IN HIS NEW SPHERE. 

During 1774 the political excitement in New 
York became more and more intense. In Sep- 
tember of that year the Congress had assembled in 
Philadelphia, and measures of resistance to George 
III. had been deliberated on and adopted. The 
community had become divided into two great 
parties ; but in New York, as elsewhere, the 
patriots were vastly in the majority. The chief 
supporters of British despotism and supremacy 
were the Episcopal clergy, who derived their ap- 
pointments and their livings from the crown, and 
who had been taught to regard the king as supreme 
head both of the church and state. 

A written controversy now ensued on the sub- 
ject of colonial affairs in New York, and a series 
of pamphlets were issued on both sides of the 
dispute. It was in this controversy, in which some 



OF ALEXA^■DER HAMILTON. 35 

of the ablest men then living participated, that the 
joutlifal Hamilton won his second wreath of laurels, 
and received the meed of well-deserved renown. 
Kev. Dr. Cooper, the president of King's or Colum- 
bia College, published a labored defense of the acts 
of the British monarch. He was followed on the 
same side by Dr. Ingles, father of the subsequent 
Bishop of Nova Scotia, Dr. Chandler, Dr. Wilkins, 
and Dr. Seabury, afterward Bishop of Connec- 
ticut. On the side of the people were found Gov- 
ernor Livingston of New Jersey, Mr. John Jay, 
and Mr. Hamilton, all of whom put forth in reply 
pamphlets of equal power, and of superior truth 
and conclusiveness. Dr. Seabury published his 
"Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continen- 
tal Congress." Dr. Wilkins wrote his " Congress 
Canvassed by a West Chester Farmer." Mr. Ha- 
milton, several weeks after the appearance of the 
latter, published " A Full Vindication of the Mea- 
sures of Congress from the Calumnies of their Ene- 
mies, in answer to a letter under the signature of 
A West Chester Farmer, whereby his sophistry is 
exposed, his cavils confuted, his artifices detected, 
and his wit ridiculed, in a general address to the 
inhabitants of America, and a patricular address 
to the farmers of the province of New York. 
Printed by James Livingston, 1774." 



36 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

The character of Hamilton's style as a writer, at 
this early period, may be inferred from the follow- 
ing short extract from this essay: — "Tell me not 
of the British commons, lords, ministers, ministe- 
rial tools, placemen, pensioners, parasites — I scorn 
to let my life and property depend upon the plea- 
sure of any of them. Give me the steady, uniform, 
unshaken security of constitutional freedom — give 
me the right of trial by a jury of my own neigh- 
bors, and to be taxed by my own representatives 
only. "What will become of the laws and courts of 
justice without this? The shadow may remain, 
but the substance will be gone. I would die to 
preserve the law upon a solid foundation ; for, take 
away liberty, and the foundation is destroyed." 

The West Chester Farmer soon replied to this 
pamphlet in terms of great bitterness and severity. 
This brought out an answer again from Hamilton, 
more lengthy and elaborate than the first. It was 
a pamphlet of seventy-eight pages, entitled " The 
Farmer Refuted; or, a more Comprehensive and 
Impartial View of the Disputes between Great Bri- 
tain and the Colonies, and intended as a Further 
Vindication of the Congress. By a Sincere Friend 
to America. 1775." 

The great ability displaj-ed in these several pam- 
phlets, their calm and sagacious spirit, and the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 37 

clear Gonviction which they carried to every impar- 
tial mind, attracted universal attention. Their au- 
thor was at first unknown. By some they were 
attributed to Governor Livingston, by others to 
Mr. Jay ; and the great fame of these distinguished 
men was even augmented by their supposed author- 
ship of these productions. Dr. Cooper, president 
of the very institution in which Hamilton was then 
a pupil, insisted that Mr. Jay must be, and alone 
could have been, their author. When it was hinted 
that Alexander Hamilton, a youth of eighteen, was 
suspected by some to have written them, he treated 
the suggestion as absurd in the extreme. Never- 
theless the truth came out at last ; and it was proved 
by Messrs. Troup and Mulligan, two associates of 
Hamilton to whom he had read a portion of the 
manuscript, that he alone was the author. 

It may readily be supposed that the public an- 
nouncement of this established fact, added greatly 
to the fame of the youthful aspirant. He was univer- 
sally regarded as an intellectual prodigy ; and bright 
hopes were not unreasonably entertained that one 
possessed of such superior gifts, and such rare ability 
to use them, would yet attain high eminence. He 
then received the honorable title of the " Vindi- 
cator of the Congress." 

A sublime and imposing epoch had now arrived 
4 



3^ ,'/?rnE)*LIFE AND TIMES ■> 

ii'i history. During several centuries the North 
American continent had been gradually filling up 
with immigrants from various countries of the old 
world, but especially from the British empire. The 
colonists found these realms ra^vast^ wilderness^ in?- 
habited only by rude and- ferocious; savages. For 
many years they lived iand toiled surrounded by great 
perils, with the bloody tomahawk constantly hangj 
ing Ov6r their heads, and the terrific war-whoop ever 
resounding in their ears. Shut out from all frequent 
Or easy intercourse with the civilized world, thejir 
Endeavored to develope the rich resources of theic 
adopted home. They planted and tilled. They felled 
the sturdy giants of the forest. They sowed, reaped 
and built. And sOon a fair and fertile paradise aros^ 
around them, blooming with natural and artificial 
loveliness, to reward their faithful industry, and to 
bless thOm and their children with the rich fruition of 
all that men most highly cherish. They had left bet 
hind them, beyond the rolling main, the detested fetf 
ters of the tyrants under whom their forefathers had 
groaned; and no footmark of a despot had ever yet 
polluted the virgin land of their adoption. Already 
faint glimpses of the coming splendor and glory of 
this new world illumined the horizon, streamed 
across the distant Atlantic, and attracted the atten- 
tion of European monarchs. The sovereign of Eng- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTaN. 39^ 

land especially, was strongly moved. The niajo'rityi^ 
of the colonists had been, and were even still, his 
subjects. He thought their prosperity deserved and 
invited taxation. They should not be exempt froni 
the ponderous burdens under which all hia other 
subj eots groaned, He laid heavy taxes, and refused at 
the sarneitirae the coordiqate right of representation.^; 
The injured colonists, who had now at last struggled 
through sufferings, perils, and, toil$ iUnumerable, upr 
to the possession of wealthy consequencej and. po wer^ j 
without the least assistance and protection from ther 
mother country, began to show signs of restlessness > 
an4 dissatisfaction. ! Soon a storm of patriotic in-*f 
dignation burst forth over i the : whole : land. The; ! 
thirteen colonies became agitated like a wild and t 
heaving ocean, and the horizon w4a overhung witbt 
dark and fearful portents. The skeping spirit of/i 
Hampden and Cromwell was aroused. The threat-t 
enings of enraged and besotted kings were defied ^^is 
and, zealous patriots might be* seen flying to and froJ 
in hot ;haste, proclaiming the necessity of unyieldihg'3 
resistance .to foreign oppression; while here ahdii 
th^re migMbe heard^amid the -discdrdant tumult,ii 
the pavage night-yell of cowardice andcbnservatism.-f 
A deadly conflict wpS inevitable ;- ; a; conflict' On- the'i 
issue of which depended the fate of countless mil-i 
oJ lOiiod bjijiie liudi bn& ^aoiiuJiJi 'liedi ^^o'-fii li'jili 



40 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

lions yet unborn, and of vast realms then just strug- 
gling into political existence. 

As may readily be supposed, the outbreak of the 
American Revolution attracted the attention of the 
whole civilized world. Nor was that attention shun- 
ned by those who had determined to throw off the 
supremacy of England. They proclaimed to the 
world that they held it as self-evident truths that all 
men are created free and equal, and that all men 
possess the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. They boldly set forth the 
outrages which the King of Great Britain had already 
inflicted, and still purposed to inflict, upon them; 
how he had attempted to establish an absolute 
tyranny over them ; how he had withheld his assent 
to the most useful and necessary laws ; how he had 
refused them the right of representation, and had 
yet imposed on them heavy taxes ; how he had dis- 
solved their representative assemblies for resisting 
his unjust invasions of their liberty ; how he had 
endeavored to prevent the population of the States, 
and had put forth his utmost efforts to restrict im- 
migration ; and how, by many other base acts of 
hostility to their interests, and tyranny over their 
rights, he had rendered himself their uncompromis- 
ing and eternal foe. They concluded by pledging 
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to 



OF AL^JJiANJJBJJl JUMILTQN. 4M- 

the stipport of the cause ifi which they had' en^iged.a 
Europe especially gazed with profound attention on'l 
the conflict ahout to^commeuGei. Her inhabitants,) 
bound in heavy chains, viewed it:.'\*^itb .silent and, 
unuttered but ardent ijope^r for tixe patriots. Her) 
tyrants, trembling on their rotten thrones, regarded, 
its progress and issue with.- paiiifttl dotibt and appre-^/ 
hension,; The grfeat problem of these latter ages wa6> 
i^ow: ab,out/ to • be- :eol|v;,^di j whether the^ long -night of i 
tyranny was eY&VnU>lQl^/i0Vi'S^ ^^er eiYiljaed worldp 
send whetheir the glopiousmora^f hope and freedom 
was destined at length to dawn, and dispel tb6i 
gloom of many centuries. 

Washington having been chosen by the Conti- 
nental Congress as commander-in-chief of all the 
armies of the United Colonies, at once accepted 
the important and difiicult trust. He refused all 
compensation for his services ; but stated that he 
would keep an account of his actual expenditures 
during the continuance of his office, which, as he 
supposed, Congress would eventually repay. 

Yet it must be confessed that the prospects of the 
revolutionists were not very encouraging. To con- 
front the gigantic power of England, — then as- 
suredly the first nation in Europe and confessedly 
the mistress of the seas, — the confederate colonics 
mustered in the camp at Cambridge fourteen thou- 
4* 



42 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

sand, five hundred men. But even this insignifieant 
force was rendered in a great measure inefiicient by- 
other serious disadvantages. They were in want of 
ammunition. The magazines could furnish but nine 
cartridges for each man. The troops were almost 
destitute of clothing, and also of tents. Their arms 
were inferior in quality and deficient in number. 
Only a small proportion either of the oflicers or of 
the men had ever received much military training, 
or were familiar with military tactics. 

Yet none of these great disadvantages discouraged 
the new commander. He busily set himself to work 
to improve the condition and the training of his 
troops. Boston was then occupied by the British 
army under General Gage, and soon the town was 
closely blockaded by the American troops. In 
January, 1776, Washington summoned a council of 
war, and proposed to their consideration the project of 
making a general assault. The decision was favor- 
able to the attempt ; and as a preparatory step he 
fortified the heights of Dorchester, in order to annoy 
the British ships in the harbor, and assail the town. 
On the 2d of March Washington began a general 
bombardment of the British lines. So vigorously 
was this efiected during the two succeeding weeks, 
that the British commander determined at length to 
evacuate his dangerous and untenable position. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 43 

This purpose was carried into effect on the 17th 
of March ; and the troops, marching forth from 
their intreuchments, embarked on board the fleet, 
and sailed from Nantasket road. Thus complete 
success attended the exertions of the American 
commander, in the first important scene of his 
career. One of the chief cities of the colonies was 
released from the grasp of the foe; and fortune, 
which ever smiles upon the brave, seemed to be pro- 
pitious to the patriots. 

On evacuating Boston, General Howe had sailed 
for Halifax. From that port he directed his course 
to the city of New York. On the 3d of July he 
disembarked his forces on Staten Island, and found 
the inhabitants strongly in favor of British rule. At 
this period, large reinforcements arrived from Eng- 
land, and the invading army numbered about twen- 
ty-five thousand regular troops. To this well-fed, 
well-trained, vigorous and efficient force, Washing- 
ton had but seventeen thousand men to oppose, 
three thousand of whom were on the sick list. Yet 
with this great disproportion in numbers, the Ame- 
rican general prepared to meet the British in a 
general engagement. 

The battle of Brooklyn ensued. The two armies 
were drawn out in the best manner which the ex- 
ceedingly irregular nature of the ground permitted. 



44 .VJFRRllKBEPJiaSKimMm 10 

There i^s indeed but little of that gtyrgeous disr 
play of military power and splendor, which' at*^ 
tended th6 great' engagements in which Marlbo-^ 
rjQUgh and Napoleon commanded. The appearance' 
of the Continental troops especially was scarcely^ 
moje martial dr;.itopQsing than that :ofwell-regu-J 
lated militia. '.'Oilio the';.2Tth ' Atj^k, at half past 
eight, the battle ibegjm'j > Theiminenfse extent- of ^ 
ground ov^r,^ which '.the< Ictmlbatants it^ere '; ee'atteted/ 
rendered the movements of the day eijtceedinglyi 
irregular and iridecisiyc;- • The American troops' in 
various quarters were broken, driven back, and 
hemmed in by the skillful marches and counter- 
marches of the British regulars. They were pur- 
sued to and fro alternately by the Hessians and the 
English, and many were slain, wounded, and cap- 
tured. It was a disastrous day for the Americans. 
One thousand and ninety-seven prisoners were 
made by the British, among whom were Generals 
Sullivan, Stirling, and "Woodhull. Probably the 
entire loss of the Americans may have amounted 
to two thousand men, that of the British to four 
hundred. 

On the night of the 28th of August, Washington 
retreated from Long Island. This retreat was con- 
ducted in the most admirable order, and with such 
superior skill that all the stores of the Americans 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 45 

and their ammunition were secured, notwithstand- 
ing the utmost vigilance of the British outposts. 
Washington has been severely censured by military 
men for the conduct and the issue of this disastrous 
day. But their strictures are undeserved. The 
object of Washington was to defend the city of 
New York from the British troops ; and at the 
same time to waste away the campaign in move- 
ments which, even if they were not decisively in 
favor of his troops, would harass and dishearten 
his assailants. An indecisive battle would help to 
accomplish this result. But the real cause of the 
disaster of Brooklyn was the want of cavalry in the 
Continental army. There was not a single troop 
of horse among them. All those operations, both 
of offense and defense, in which celerity of move- 
ment was of essential importance, were necessarily 
impossible. And besides all this, the British troops 
had vastly the advantage in numbers, in discipline, 
in ammunition, and in position. The influence of 
this defeat on the public mind was most discou- 
raging. The popular enthusiasm was much dimin- 
ished. The American troops immediately evacu- 
ated New York, and the British entered it. Wash- 
ington still retreated, and took possession of a 
favorable position at White Plains. He was inde- 
fatigable in his exertions to discipline, accoutre, 



4S^ .IiaJIlEiLIFE AND TIMES > 

and -fJndoiirftge his troops ; and in some few'*slir« 
mishes, whicTi tdok place between separate detach'^ 
ments of both, parties, the Americans obtained the 
advantage, s'ldilo eussl odi bna ionbaoo odt lo^ nam 
orO.b the ^5th of October, d-eneral Howe detern 
mined to attack Washington in his fortified positioiD 
at White Plains. The ■ militia in the 'American 
army fled upon the first' assanlt of tb« British. The; 
regular troojps : made a longer resistanpe ; but theji 
too eventually retreated, though in good order.! 
The vicitory agaiii belonged to the Britishiilr^iWashn 
ingtdn prudently: continued to, retire, while Generali 
Howe made his preparations to inVade JJiTew Jerseyb 
Two: ^important garrison s-"th(3^e of:-F<)rt Lee an<|( 
Eort^Washington, lay in Jiife route, which it behooved) 
him to take. After i spirited fesistanee both /Dfo 
these fortresses surrendered to the assailants, j^her 
garrison which manned Fort Washington became* 
prisoners of ; war.' .Pu ring Washington's furtherf 
retreat through New Jersey. Ijd was compelled;:to[ 
sacrifice bis heavy dannon and military, stories. ', Ttiet 
position^and prospects of ifche* pefeript^ Jxat abeady^r 
at the terminatioja :of the second ; campaign jbeoonjej 
apparently ; desperate, .; Eosted at ; :Kew,a^rk,; JVYashyj 
ington endeavoredto concentrate at one point the; 
scattered troojts .^^f ; [tjie , ;difterent colonies^— some, 
fi'pn) -M^psachnsettSj. sopae. from Connecticut, some^^ 



OF:. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. i^^ 

from Pena§ylv,aiimi .iIt!W&.sot*he^ Ist^ef ^Decembel", 
•vl776, andi never; did arii6re gloomy future seem to 
lappaj a- commander. Tlie American forces from 
the first had been . inferior rto their' opponents in 
jej^erj respeet-T-i«t ; numbers, in ammunition, in di8- 
icipUne,. and in experience, i At -that moment the 
^continued series' ^^fi disasters whicii had occurred 
subsequent- to, the ev$,cuationtof; Boston, had de- 
pressed the spirits of the whole. people, as well as 
cif thfe ai'myjto the lowest /ebb.- The same patriots 
who, at the commencement of the conflict had been 
^rdevit,, enthusiastic, and .confident, now began: se- 
riously to despair of the rr.epubll<^. 1 > At tbisj moment 
also the period of 'the .enlistment ;of a: large- portion 
of the Continental troops eitpired, and whole compa- 
pi§p, i^, spite ,of the.:utm:ost exertions fof-W^ashington, 
disbanded^and returned hom^*;; fit ■vtas confidently 
g(:&pected that,i in a few weeks, the whole army would 
dwindle away ai|id disappear. Those who remained 
in camp seemed to bean constant danger of being 
surrounded and destroyed by the much larger force 
mustered by the British. Then Philadelphia would 
immediately become the prey of the- triumphant 
invaders. Worse than all this, there Was foul trea.*- 
son even in the patriot camp. General Howe had 
issued a proclamation insuring pardon and immu- 
nity , to ,aU: w.^io,,withii; .sixty days, would renew 



48 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

their allegiance to the British king. An insurrec- 
tion soon occurred in Monmouth county, 'New 
Jersey, against the Continental government ; and 
even several American generals, who had previously 
stood high in the confidence of the commander-in- 
chief, of Congress, and of the whole country, began 
perfidiously to tamper with British officials, and to 
take steps preparatory to making a transfer of their 
allegiance from the ruined and subjugated colonial 
government to the now victorious and resistless 
English despot. 

In this dark hour of disaster and gloom "Wash- 
ington preserved his serenity, his confidence, and 
his hope. He readily perceived that some decisive 
movement was absolutely necessary to inspire con- 
fidence again into the people and the army, and 
he determined to make it. It was then the middle 
of winter. His shattered and broken army lay in 
their feeble and hastily prepared works on the 
Pennsylvania side of the Delaware. He formed 
the daring plan of attacking several of the British 
posts on the Delaware, in New Jersey, at the same 
moment, so as to deliver Philadelphia from the 
impending danger of invasion, and compel the 
British to release New Jersey from the grasp in 
which they then held it. The latter were posted at 
Trenton, Bordentown, Mount Holly, and the White 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 49 

Horse, though large divisions were also placed at 
Princeton, Brunswick, and Elizabethtown. On the 
night of the 25th of December the cold was in- 
tense, and the earth was deluged with sleet, snow 
and hail. General Washington resolved on this 
night to march in person with one division of his 
army, consisting of twenty-five hundred men, upon 
the British posted in Trenton. General Irvine was 
directed to cross the Delaware opposite TrentoTi, 
and secure the bridge below the town ; while Ge- 
neral Cadwallader was ordered to cross at Dunk's 
Ferry, and attack the British at Mount Holly. All 
these movements were to be accomplished simul- 
taneously, with secresy and celerity ; and had the 
plans of the commander-in-chief been promptly 
carried out, their success would have been com- 
plete and overpowering. The chief obstacle was 
the state of the ice and of the weather, which im- 
peded the troops in their attempt to cross the Dela- 
ware. In the end, that portion alone of the Ame- 
rican army which Washington himself led, was 
able to effect a passage in time, and with this por- 
tion alone he achieved a brilliant victory. He 
reached the British position at Trenton at eight in 
the morning, and instantly commenced an attack 
with the utmost fury and impetuosity. The British 
soon begacr to waver, then to flee. Washington 
5 



60 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

intercepted tliem in their flight, and after a brisk 
conflict compelled them to surrender. About one 
thousand of them were made prisoners, fifty were 
killed and wounded. Among the number of the slain 
was Colonel Rawle, their commander. So intense 
was the cold that two American soldiers were frozen 
to death. Five hundred British escaped from the 
lower end of Trenton, in consequence of the failure 
of that portion of the plan intrusted to General 
Irvine. The condition of the river also rendered it 
impossible for General Cadwallader to transport 
his artillery over it, and accordingly he was com- 
pelled to relinquish his design on Mount Holly. ^ 
The victory of Washington at Trenton was com- 
plete. He had accomplished, in the dead of winter, 
one of the most daring and successful feats recorded 
in military annals. He had even surprised the vi- 
gilant and able commanders who led the British 
veterans, and had taken captive a large and im- 
portant portion of their army. But his career of 
success did not terminate here. One of the strong- 
est positions of the foe was at Princeton. Wash- 
ington pressed forward to attack them. The battle 
of Princeton ensued, in which the British were 
totally defeated — one hundred were killed, and three 
hundred taken prisoners. The chief loss of the 
Americans was in the death of General Mercer. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 51 

Lord Cornwallis, the Britisli commander, endea- 
vored immediately after this success, to assail and 
crush the patriot army before they could reach 
Brunswick, which was their next object of attack. 
Under these circumstances, Washington deemed it 
prudent to abandon this portion of his bold design. 
His exhausted troops were without blankets, with- 
out provisions, and many of them were barefooted, 
and marked their painful progress over the frozen 
earth, with the traces of their blood. He therefore 
retired into shelter at Morristown for the rest of 
the winter. 

These heroic and triumphant operations of Wash- 
ington and his co-patriots, revived at once the 
drooping spirits of the colonies. Joy and hope 
illumed that gloomy horizon which had settled 
down so sadly over the whole nation. The British 
officers and men were astonished at these displays 
of unexpected vigor and bravery ; and their com- 
mander began seriously to reflect upon the difficulty 
of subjugating a people, whose army — few, ragged, 
naked, without ammunition and without provisions, 
could rise in the midst of winter, invested wdth such 
desperate and resistless power, and strike so fatal 
a blow upon their confident and well-appointed foes. 
The patriots were filled with encouragement and 
hope ; while the covert and yet undeclared traitors 



52 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

in their camp, thought it advisable still to dissem- 
]Ae for a time their infamous purposes, and post- 
pone the consummation of their perfidy until a 
more propitious hour. 

It was in June, 1775, that Hamilton published 
his pamphlet, entitled "Remarks on the Quebec 
Bill," the object of which production was to show 
that the British ministry had abandoned all regard 
to the principles of the English constitution, and 
were prepared to commit the greatest outrages on 
the liberties of the colonies ; and he illustrated his 
subject by an allusion to some of the measures 
adopted in reference to the government of the Bri- 
tish province of Canada. This essay displayed the 
same superior traits of mind which had marked its 
predecessors, and still added to his fame. 

Hamilton, at this stirring period, took part also 
in the public deliberative assemblies of the people 
in ITew York. Congress having declared their de- 
termination to resist British tyranny by force of 
arms, and having appealed to the colonies for their 
support, Hamilton immediately commenced the 
study of military tactics, and joined a volunteer 
corps commanded by Major Fleming, who had for- 
merly been in the British service. This company 
having been commanded by the people to remove 
the cannon from the Buttery, Hamilton aided in 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 53 

the work; and while so doing a companion was 
shot down by his side, from the British vessel in 
the harbor, which endeavored to prevent the exe- 
cution of their purpose. Meanwhile he continued 
his studies in the military art, aided by a British 
bombardier, who instructed him in pyrotechnics 
and gunnery. 

In January, 1776, he joined an artillery company 
which had been raised in New York, and in a few 
weeks he received the rank of " Captain of the 
Provincial Company of Artillery." A portion of 
the last remittance which he received from his 
generous friends in Vera Cruz, he appropriated to 
the recruiting of this company. In September, 
1776, he entered active service at the battle on 
Brooklyn Heights; and in the retreat of the Ame- 
rican lines on that disastrous day, as already narrated, 
he performed the difficult service of bringing up the 
rear, having lost his baggage and a field-piece. 

From Brooklyn the broken army of the Ameri- 
cans retired to Harlem, near New York. It having 
been determined that a stand should here be made, 
Hamilton commenced instantly to fortify his por- 
tion of the line. While actively superintending 
and assisting in this work, he was thrown for the 
first time in contact with the commander-in-chief. 
Entering into conversation with the young engineer, 
5* 



54 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

while thus engaged, the penetrating eye of Washing- 
ton soon detected his superior abilities and energy ; 
and he invited Hamilton to visit him in his mar- 
quee. This was the commencement of that faithful 
friendship which afterward continued unabated be- 
tween these remarkable men, during so many dark 
years of uncertainty and vicissitude, and during 
those brighter ones of triumph and splendor which 
happily succeeded. 

In the important events which ensued, Hamil- 
ton took a prominent and honorable share. At 
the battle of "White Plains his gallantry again at- 
tracted the attention of the commander-in-chief. 
When the harassed and broken army of the patriots 
retreated to North Castle, Hamilton was placed in 
command of an important post near Fort Washing- 
ton, and did something to stem the tide of the con- 
querors. When Fort Washington fell, Hamilton 
proposed to Washington to attempt its recapture 
with a small body of troops ; but the desperate 
though patriotic rashness of his plans induced the 
prudent chief to decline it. In this gloomy hour of 
American history, when triumph after triumph had 
infused an arrogant hope into the British officers 
and soldiers, and their opponents were almost driven 
to despair, Washington conceived and executed the 
brilliant enterprises of Trenton and Princeton. In 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 55 

these important actions, and especially in that of 
Princeton, Hamilton's services were of great value. 
As the American troops were retiring toward ISTew 
Brunswick, they were pursued by the British under 
Lord Cornwallis. The Americans were hut three 
thousand in number ; they had exhausted their am- 
munition ; many were but half clothed ; and many 
even were unarmed. The British host numbered eight 
thousand men, well-fed, well-accoutred, and inflated 
with arrogant assurances of victory. As the rear of 
the ragged Americans was crossing the Raritan, the 
British van appeared in sight. At this crisis Hamil- 
ton effected a diversion in favor of the patriot army 
by planting his artillery on a high ground which 
commanded the ford of the river, and playing so 
effectively on the British lines as to delay their pro- 
gress, and enable Washington to make good his re- 
treat. When the American army went into winter 
quarters at Morristown, on March 1st, 1777, 
Hamilton was justly rewarded for his services by 
the appointment of aid-de-camp and private secre- 
tary to Washington, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel. 

The duties which devolved upon Hamilton in this 
new sphere, were onerous and important. The 
high estimate of his abilities already formed by 
Washington induced him to intrust to Hamilton 



56 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

not merely tbe subordinate functions usually devolv- 
ing upon bis aids, but tbose of a bigber and more 
difficult cbaracter. He was invited to assist in ar- 
ranging tbe plans of tbe campaigns ; in devising 
means for the concentration, increase and support of 
the army ; and in confirming tbe resolution and 
unity of the various portions of the confederacy. 
The intelligence, sagacity and integrity of Hamilton, 
had already won the full confidence of Washington — 
of a man remarkable for his reserve and prudence ; 
a man of whom it has been said, that no one could 
ever boast of having been on familiar terms with 
him ; a man whose prevailing sobriety and caution 
were so great, that he was rarely or never known to 
laugh. To Hamilton alone Washington confided 
the most difficult and elaborate communications 
which emanated from head-quarters, both to Con- 
gress and to private citizens, which he did not him- 
self compose. "The pen of our army," says Troup, 
" was held by Hamilton ; and for dignity of manner, 
pith of matter, and elegance of style, General Wash- 
ington's letters are unrivaled in military annals." 

Hamilton also corresponded largely with patriots 
in the State of New York, who, knowing his in- 
fluence with the commander-in-chief, and his own 
superior sagacity, conferred with him, at the instance 
of the Convention, in reference to their prospects and 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 57 

condition. From the camp at Morristown Hamil- 
ton wrote letters full of prudent advice and counsel 
to Robert E. Livingston, who had been appointed 
by the Convention to correspond with him. This 
incident furnishes a convincing proof of the very 
high position which had already been attained by 
this youthful exile of the age of twenty-one. 

Nor amid these stirring scenes did Hamilton for- 
get his kind friends in the land of his birth. They 
viewed his advancement in life with constant watch- 
fulness and interest, notwithstanding the remoteness 
of their position. To the Reverend Mr. Knox he 
wrote in July, 1777, describing the state of the con- 
test, the plans and purposes of each of the combat- 
ants, and dwelling upon the probable aid of France, 
and the final issue of the struggle. These letters 
are evidences of the fact that, though he loved his 
adopted country well, he had not forgotten those 
who, in the hour of his need, had so kindly be- 
friended him. 

In August, 1777, Hamilton was sent to Congress 
to confer, on behalf of Washington, with that body 
upon the propriety of either an attack upon New 
York, then held by the British, or a decisive move- 
ment on the Hudson to oppose the advance of Bur- 
goyne. While this deliberation was pending, a 
British fleet appeared off the Capes of Virginia. 
This fact proved that an attack on Philadelphia was 



58 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

contemplated by the enemy. To protect that im- 
portant city Washington took post at the Forks of 
the Brandywine; and the battle of that name en- 
sued between him and General Howe. In the retreat 
which followed this defeat, Hamilton, in the heroic 
performance of his duty, was placed in a position of 
imminent peril, and his escape from death was deemed 
almost miraculous. He attempted to destroy a 
small store of provisions which lay on the Schuyl- 
kill, in the route of the victorious British. "While 
thus engaged, the enemy suddenly came upon him. 
Hamilton and four of his men retreated to a boat 
on the river, entered it, and commenced to row for 
their lives. While thus employed volley after volley 
were discharged into the boat, and three out of the 
five who occupied it were wounded, before they 
escaped beyond the reach of the enemy's fire. After 
this adventure, Hamilton was dispatched by Wash- 
ington to Philadelphia, for the purpose of raising 
contributions to the future support of the army from 
the ladies of that city. He addressed them a letter, 
which has always been much admired for the supe- 
i-iority and brilliancy of its style. Its success was in 
the highest degree encouraging. Hamilton spent the 
winter of 1777 with Washington in his quarters on 
the eastern bank of the Schuylkill above Philadel- 
phia; and was present in the iudecisive engagement 
at Germantown. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 59 



CHAPTER III. 

EVENTS OP 1777 — CONSPIRACY AGAINST WASHINGTON IN THE ARMY AND 
IN CONGRESS — HAMILTON'S MISSION TO GATES — HIS SUCCESS — EVENTS 
OF 1778 — HAMILTON'S CONDUCT AT MONMOUTH — LEE's RETREAT — LEE's 
SUBSEQUENT COURT-MARTIAL — HAMILTON'S GROWING FAME — HIS POPU- 
LARITY WITH THE ARMY — LAFAYETTE. 

The year 1777 is remarkable in the history of the 
American Revolution, as the one in which con- 
spiracy was formed and carried to a considerable 
' leno-th against the commander-in-chief of the conti- 
nental armies. 

The origin of this base cabal is to be found in the un- 
just dissatisfaction of the community at the repeated 
defeats which the army under Washington had suf- 
fered, and in the unprincipled ambition of General 
Gates, the fortunate conqueror of General Burgoyne. 
The American people in this instance forgot, to 
some extent, their usual sense of justice and reason ; 
for they blamed Washington because Philadelphia 
and New York had fallen into the hands of the 
enemy, and because the latter had been victorious 
in a series of hard fought conflicts ; although they 
knew that the continental army was small in num^ 
ber, composed in a great measure of raw recruits, 



60 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

half naked, without arms, without ammunition, 
without every thing which gives efficiency and con- 
fidence to a martial host ; while, on the other hand, 
they also knew that the British forces w^ere uni- 
formly vastly superior in numbers, superior in disci- 
pline, abundantly supplied with arms, ammunition, 
and stores, and encouraged by a large and considera- 
ble portion of disaffected people. 

"When "Washington went into winter quarters, 
after the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, 
the Legislature of Pennsylvania addressed a remon- 
strance to Congress on the subject, in which they 
gave utterance to sentiments of dissatisfaction with 
the commander-in-chief. Congress then appointed 
a new board of war, of which General Gates, whom 
many wished to make the rival of Washington, was 
made president, and Generals Mifflin and Conway, 
bitter enemies of Washington, were appointed mem- 
bers. General Gates, elated by his success in the 
capture of Burgoyue, was not unwilling to lend- 
himself to the base uses of this faction. General 
Conway, whom Washington justly stigmatizes in 
one of his letters, as " a dangerous incendiary, in 
which character the country will sooner or later 
know him," was particularly active in his secret and 
public hostility to Washington. All the disasters 
and defeats of the war were ascribed to the incora- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 61 

potency of that general. The exploit of Gates was 
triumphantly pointed at as an evidence of what a 
commander of real ability and energy could effect. 
Oonway asserted that " Heaven has been determined 
to save the country, or a weak gene.ral and bad 
counselors would have ruined it." To Gates an 
independent command was given by the Board of 
"War, in the north, which interfered with the free- 
dom and efficiency of Washington's movements. 
Calumnies, both secret and public, were widely dif- 
fused against him, in every possible way, by the 
disaffected. Mr. Laurens, the President of Congress, 
received anonymous letters full of the basest and 
vilest charges against him. These letters Mr. Lau- 
rens sent to Washington to apprize him of what was 
going on. In answer to the communication of that 
patriot which accompanied the infamous missives, 
Washington, whose great and serene soul remained 
undisturbed amid the dangers, difficulties, and mise- 
ries of his position, answered as follows : 

"I was not unapprized that a malignant faction 
had been for some time forming to my prejudice, 
which, conscious as I am of having done all in my 
power to answer the important purposes of the trusts 
reposed in me, could not but give me some pain on 
a personal account; but my chief concern arises 
from an apprehension of the dangerous consequences 
6 



62 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

which intestine dissensions may produce to the 
common cause. 

"The anonymous paper handed you exhibits many 
serious charges, and it is my wish that it may be sub- 
mitted to Congress. 

" My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of 
me. They know the delicacy of my situation, and 
that motives of policy deprive me of the defense I 
might otherwise make against their insidious attacks. 
They know I cannot combat their insinuations, how- 
ever injurious, without disclosing secrets it is of the 
utmost moment to conceal." 

General Mifflin, the quarter-master general of the 
army, was another of the chief causes of the ditficul- 
ties which existed. After this cabal had carried on 
their schemes for sometime, public sentiment crushed 
their influence so completely that their malignant 
eftbrts produced no results. General Mifflin at last 
felt constrained by the force of public opinion to re- 
sign his post. 

How Washington felt and acted under the opera- 
tion of these machinations, we feel naturally curious 
to inquire ; and his conduct and temper on this oc- 
casion must go far in deciding our estimate of his 
extraordinary character. Endowed with a mind not 
only of colossal strength, but of singular firmness, 
these aspersions caused neither agitation nor excite- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 63 

ment; though not to feel in some degree indignant, 
would have been to possess attributes superior to 
those of humanity. In his answer to General Gates, 
calling for the name of the informer, there is but 
one expression which implied any degree of undue 
excitement, where he says: "Pardon me then, for 
adding, that, so far from conceiving the safety of the 
States can be affected, or in the smallest degree in- 
jured, by a discovery of this kind, or that I should 
be called upon in such solemn terms to point out 
the author, that I considered the information as 
coming from yourself, and given with a friendly 
view to forewarn, and consequently forearm me 
against a secret enemy, or in other words, a danger- 
ous incendiary^ in which character, sooner or later, 
this country will know General Conway." 

At this time the army was barefooted, naked, and 
without provisions, the fault of which was exclu- 
sively in Congress and in the depreciated currency of 
the country; and imagination, in its wildest crea- 
tions, cannot conceive sufferings more intense than 
were this winter endured by the American army. 

How acutely Washington felt, and sympathized 
with these sufferings, might be shown by multiplied 
evidences of his humane feelings; but we shall con- 
fine ourselves to part of one of his letters to Governor 
Livingston : " I sincerely feel for the unhappy con- 



64 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

dition of our poor fellows in the hospitals, and wish 
my powers to relieve them were equal to my incli- 
nation. It is but too melancholy a truth, that our 
hospital stores of every kind are lamentably scanty 
and deficient. I fear there is no prospect of their 
being soon in a better condition. Our diflicultiea 
and distresses are certainly great, and such as wound 
the feelings of humanity : — our sick, naked ! — our 
well, naked ! — our unfortunate men in captivity, 
naked !" 

The army was now melting away, owing to the 
depreciation of continental money, which reduced 
the ofiicers to beggary, and the soldiers to naked- 
ness. Washington recommended increased pay, 
half pay, and a pension system, and submitted to 
Congress an elaborate, able, and comprehensive sys- 
tem for the organization of the army, as well as for 
the commissary department in particular ; to which 
Congress conformed in their new regulations. 

Still the famine in the army prevailed, and every 
hour threatened to dissolve it notwithstanding the 
herculean labors of Washington to exhort the 
States to action, and to stimulate the Congress to 
energy. Mutinj' was often manifested by the starv- 
ing troops, and as often suppressed ; bat nothing 
could have crushed it but the deep atfectiou which 
most of the men cherished for then- great com- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 66 

mancler, who possessed that indescribable quality 
whicli attached both officers and soldiers to his 
person, and inspired them all with veneration and 
respect. To this quality alone in the general, is to 
be ascribed the preservation of the army at this 
perilous crisis. 

Perhaps no man ever received so signal and com- 
plete atonement from the party guilty of an injury, 
as did General Washington, when the following let- 
ter from General Conw^ay, who had been seriously 
wounded in a duel, was addressed to him: 

'■'•Philadelphia, July 23, 1778. 

"Sir, — I find myself just able to hold the pen 
during a few minutes, and take this opportunity of 
expressing my sincere grief for having done, writ- 
ten, or said any thing disagreeable to your excel- 
lency. My career will soon be over; therefore 
justice and truth prompt me to declare my last sen- 
timents. You are, in my eyes, the great and good 
man. May you long enjoy the love, veneration and 
esteem of these States, whose liberties you have 
asserted by your virtues. 

" I am, with the greatest respect, Sir, &c." 

During this trying season, the darkest in the per- 
sonal history of Washington, Hamilton remained 
his faithful friend, and one of his most trusted con- 
6* 



66 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

fidants. He boldly defended his coiidiictfrom every 
charge. He was chosen by Washington to visit 
General Gates in his camp at Albany, in order to 
induce him to detach a considerable portion of his 
army, and send it to the assistance of the main force 
encamped near Philadelphia. On his arrival in Al- 
bany Hamilton had an interview with General Gates 
in reference to the object of his mission. After some 
deliberation he assented ; and eventually resolved to 
send the weakest of the three brigades under his 
command, which did not muster more than six hun- 
dred men fit for duty. As soon as Hamilton ascer- 
tained this fact, he strongly represented to General 
Gates the impropriety of this selection ; and urged 
that one of the other brigades, commanded by Gene- 
rals Nixon or Glover, should be dispatched for 
that service. The energetic remonstrance of Hamil- 
ton accomplished his purpose ; and General Glover's 
brigade was ordered to join the main army near 
Philadelphia. 

So efl&cient were the services rendered by Hamil- 
ton at this period, that they elicited from the com- 
mander-in-chief the following letter, dated amid the 
gloomy and wintry scenes of Valley Forge, ITovem- 
ber 15th, 1777. "I have duly received your several 
favors from the time you left me, to that of the 12th 
instant. I approve entirely of all the steps you have 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 67 

taken, and have only to wish that the exertions of 
those you have had to deal with had kept pace with 
your zeal and good intentions. I hope your health 
will, before this, have permitted you to push on the 
rear of the whole reinforcement beyond New Wind- 
sor. Some of the enemy's ships have arrived in the 
Delaware, but how many have troops on board I 
cannot exactly ascertain. The enemy has lately 
damaged Fort Mifflin considerably, but our people 
keep possession, and seem determined to do so to the 
last extremity. Our loss in men has been but small 
— Captain Treat is unfortunately among the killed. 
I wish you a safe return." Such were the terms of 
familiar confidence which the most reserved and dis> 
tant of men employed in his private correspondence 
with a youth of twenty-one, who had been selected 
among many brave and older men to perform a ser- 
vice of great difficulty, importance, and danger. \ 

During the campaign of 1778 Hamilton continued 
in the suite of Washington, and actually was engaged 
in the service. His conduct at the battle of Mon- 
mouth was brilliant in the extreme, and was of signal 
benefit in counteracting the singular proceedings 
of General Lee. 

On the 18th of June, the British army marched to 
lladdonfield, !N"ew Jersey. Sir Henry Clinton, with 
the force under his command, approached Amboy 



68 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

by way of Monmouth. "Washington summoned a 
council of war to decide whether an attack onCUnton 
would then he desirable. The council advised that no 
attack should be ventured. General Washington was 
strongly convinced of the propriety of an opposite 
course. In this judgment General Greene and Col. 
Hamilton, at that time the two officers who pos- 
sessed the largest share of the confidence of their 
commander, agreed with him that the opportunity 
was favorable to attack the retreating foe. Wash- 
ington gave orders for the pursuit. On the 28th of 
June the American army came up to the British, 
whom they found intrenched on the heights of 
Monmouth. General Lee, at break of day, was or- 
dered to commence the attack. Washington was 
coming up with the main army. At the suggestion 
of Hamilton, General Greene was ordered to file ofl:' 
with the right wing, to protect the right of the army. 
Wayne was ordered by Lee to leave his own de- 
tachment and take the command of the front. The 
former immediately sent word back to General Lee, 
that the enemy were retreating in great disorder, 
and urged him to push forward the rest of his troops 
in pursuit. The foremost regiment of the Ameri- 
cans, commanded by Col. Butler, were then attacked 
by a body of British horse, but were so gallantly 
received that they were broken, thrown into coufu- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 69 

sioM and routed. Wayne still pressed on to the 
charge with his characteristic heroism. The enemy, 
overborne by his impetuosity, were in full retreat, 
when the order came forward from General Lee to 
retreat. Hamilton was the first to rejoin Washing- 
ton, and to inform him of this singular and disas- 
trous movement. Washington's outbursts of passion 
were very few ; but when they did come, they were 
terrific. That which occurred on this occasion 
seemed to have exceeded in fury all others of which 
history makes mention ; and the cause of his irritation 
appears to have justified its intensity. As soon as he 
was informed of the retreat of the advanced corps, 
he gave vent to his indignation, jumped from his 
horse, pushed forward toward the fugitives, and ral- 
lied them. Meanwhile he advanced to the spot 
where General Lee stood, and addressed him in 
words of just indignation, which their author and 
the occasion have rendered memorable. He then 
ordered Wayne to renew the combat, and a cannon- 
ade to be opened upon the enemy. He directed 
Colonels Ramsey and Stewart to reform the division 
under General Lee, and press on to the charge. 

The retreat ordered b}^ Lee had inspirited the 
British, who had halted to resume the conflict. 
They advanced on the artillery which had been 
posted on the right. Hamilton formed Varnum's 



70 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

brigade and charged the enemy at their head. In 
this gallant service his horse was shot under him. 
The engagement on the right was sharp, and Gene- 
ral Greene commanded there with signal ability. 
"Washington followed up the attack on the centre, 
and the artillery placed there, under General Knox, 
did great execution upon the enemy's front. The battle 
was still undecided when night fell ; but the British 
took advantage of the darkness, retreated, and em- 
barked at Sandy Hook. The Americans remained 
masters of the battle field, and encamped that night 
upon the ensanguined plain. 

The services of Hamilton on this occasion were 
highly appreciated by Washington. He inserted a 
high eulogium upon him, in his dispatch to Con- 
gress, which at Hamilton's own request was after- 
ward expunged. A cotemporary writer speaking 
of Hamilton at Monmouth, says: "I am happy 
to have it in my power to mention the merit of 
Col. Hamilton. He was incessant in his endeavors 
during the day in reconnoitering the enemy, in ral- 
lying, and in charging ; but whether he or Col. 
Laurens deserves most of our commendation is 
somewhat doubtful. Both had their horses shot 
under them, and both exhibited singular proofs of 
bravery." 

The court-martial which afterward examined the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 71 

conduct of General Lee, found liim " guilty of dis- 
obedience of orders in not attacking the enemy, ot 
misbehavior, by making an unnecessary and dis- 
orderly retreat, and of disrespect to the commander- 
in-chief." He was suspended from his command 
for twelve months, and afterward, on January 10th, 
1780, was entirely dismissed from the service. About 
this period, Hamilton again distinguished himself 
in a literary way, by the publication of some letters 
exposing the malfeasance of a member of Congress 
in speculating in flour, by which the difficulties and 
privations of the army were much augmented. 
These letters were signed " Publius," — a name which 
he afterward immortalized in the Federalist. Mr. 
Troup very truly asserts that the style and vigor 
of these letters more nearly resembled those of 
Junius than any other production in the lan- 
guage. 

The abilities and services of Hamilton had by this 
time, in spite of his youth, rendered him one of the 
most distinguished persons in the army. Nor did 
his great fame surround and afilict him with the 
jealousy of his associates. He was then as popular 
as he was eminent. This unusual circumstance 
arose from the superior affability and generosity of 
his temper. He was a great favorite with the 
soldiers. He was also very popular with the of- 



72 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

ficers, and especially with the large niiniher of 
foreign officers who were in the service, in conse- 
quence of his familiarity with the French language 
which they spoke. He nunihered among his inti- 
mate friends Baron Steuben, Lafayette, Fleury, 
La Luzerne, and Du Portail. And above all, he 
enjoyed the full confidence of that great man, who 
was slow to confide, and slower still to love ; but 
who already cherished this favorite youth with an 
afi'ection as rare as it was honorable. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 73 



CHAPTER IV. 

EVENTS OF 1780 — FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE COLONIES — HAMIL- 
TON'S FINANCIAL SCHEMES — ROBERT MORRIS — BANK OF UNITED STATES 
PROPOSED — HAMILTON'S LETTER TO ROBERT MORRIS — FRENCH AID SENT 
TO THE COLONIES — CAUSES OF THE FRIENDLY INTERPOSITION OF 
FRANCE — TREASON OF ARNOLD — HAMILTON'S PROJECTS FOR THE NA- 
TIONAL PROSPERITY — HIS LETTER TO JAMES DUANE — HAMILTON AP- 
POINTED MINISTER TO FRANCE — HE DECLINES. 

The revolutioLiary struggle continued ; but by the 
year 1780 the conflict had resolved itself chiefly 
into a rivalry in financial ability and resource be- 
tween the mother country and the colonies. It then 
seemed that whichever party could continue the war 
the longest,'possessed the best guarantees of perma- 
nent and final success. 

Under such circumstances the, active and patriotic 
mind of Hamilton soon reverted to the elaboration 
of such financial schemes, as he supposed would re- 
lieve the distress of the countrj^, and furnish new 
munitions of war to the patriots. He addressed a 
letter to Robert Morris, a distinguished member of 
Congress from Pennsylvania, disclosing a plan foi' 
increasing the pecuniary resources of the colonies. 
The letter was anonymous ; and the writer assigned 
7 



74 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

as a reason why he cliose that method of communi- 
cation rather than through the public press, that the 
discussion of the subject involved allusions to the 
weakness and poverty of the country, the exposure 
of which would be exceedingly prejudicial to the 
cause of liberty. The writer then proceeds to dis- 
cuss the plan proposed, the nature of the existing 
currency, the amount of taxes, of domestic and fo- 
reign trade, of the depreciation of the currency, and of 
its consequence, a want of confidence in the com- 
munity. He states that the expedient of a foreign 
loan was a good oue ; but that this was liable to 
great objections, and that he had another remedy to 
propose which was still more efficient, and free from 
all objection. This plan was the establishment of 
an American Bank, to be chartered by Congress for 
the period of ten years, and to be termed the Bank 
of the United States. The basis of this institution 
was to be a foreign loan of two millions of pounds, to 
be used in the bank as a portion of its stock ; a sub- 
scription to be opened for stock to the amount of 
two hundred millions of dollars more, the payments to 
be guaranteed by the government on the dissolution 
of the bank by ten millions of specie, or by a bona 
fide equivalent currency. The bank notes were to 
be made payable to the bearer in three months, at ten 
per cent. An annual loan of ten millions of pounds 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 75 

was to be furnished to Congress by the bank at four 
per cent. The letter contained other items, more 
fully explaining the ideas of the writer. He sketched 
the details which would be necessaiy to give ef 
ficieucy to the operation of the institution. Hg 
proposed the appointment of a Minister of Finance. 
He suggested that Congress should establish the 
bank, set it in operation, and superintend its pro- 
gress. He closed by asserting that Mr. Robert 
Morris was in his judgment the most suitable person 
in the nation to be placed at the head of such an 
institution. 

This production, when its authorship became 
known, won for Hamilton the not undeserved title 
of the "Founder of the Public Credit of the United 
States." It exhibited the superior powers of his 
capacious and many-sided intellect in a new depart- 
ment. Able as a political writer on great national 
issues, able as a soldier, bold, prudent, eloquent as 
he had already proved himself to be, in every posi- 
tion in which he had been placed, he now esta- 
blished a high reputation as a financier. His clear 
and sagacious views attracted and deserved the more 
attention, because at that time the science of finance 
was but little known in the colonies. His intellec- 
tual vigor enabled him to rise triumphantly above 
tlie prevalent prejudices and contracted ideas of 



76 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tliat day, and to lay open to view new and unappro- 
priated fields for tlie advancement of the national 
credit and wealth ; and with the attainment of this 
result, to furnish the necessary material aid to curry 
on the great struggle for liberty which then engaged 
and exhausted the nation. 

This letter of Mr. Hamilton was not without its 
results. Shortly after its receipt, the plan of a bank 
in Pennsylvania was introduced founded upon pri- 
vate contribution only, possessing a capital of three 
hundred thousand pounds. Its purpose was to fur- 
nish the army with a supply of provisions and am- 
munition. The hint also given by Hamilton in this 
letter in reference to tlie establishment of executive 
departments in the Federal government were so 
valuable that they approved themselves highly to the 
judgment of Robert Morris, — justly termed the great 
financier of the Revolution, — were pressed by him 
upon the consideration of Congress, and were finally 
adopted by that body with little variation from the 
details suggested by Mr. Hamilton. 

In July, 1780, an expedition arrived from France 
to the assistance of the colonies. This auspicious 
event infused new courage into the desponding but 
patriotic hearts of thousands. The causes which led 
France at that period to interest herself so effectu- 
ally in the dispute between Great Britain and the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 7T 

colonies may be found in the remote recesses of 
events which have generally escaped the scrutiny 
of historians. It was not because France could at 
that time well afford the proffered assistance. It 
Avas not because Louis XVI. then sat securely on 
his throne, and feared no domestic and internal 
commotions. It was not because the French mon- 
arch and his ministers loved liberty, or those who 
were its partisans and representatives. The cause 
of this opportune succor thus vouchsafed by Bour- 
bon tyrants to American patriots and jacobins, was 
to be found in an old grudge which France enter- 
tained against England, in consequence of the in- 
terference of the latter in her own colonial strifes 
and difficulties. Genoa had ceded the Island of 
Corsica to France; but the inhabitants were restive 
under the transfer, and preferred their old masters, 
the Genoese. In 17GS, a rebellion against the su- 
premacy of France had broken forth, led on by 
Paoli, a distinguished and influential citizen. At 
this crisis the British ministry dispatched an emis- 
sary to Corsica, to offer assistance to the insurgents. 
That assistance was accepted ; and many thousand 
stand of arms were secretly sent from the Tower of 
London to the rebels. France discovered this in- 
terference, notwithstanding the seeresy which was 

thrown around it, and it was not forgotten. She 

7* 



78 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

awaited tlie day of vengeance. Paoli, in spite of 
the succor which was sent him, was defeated, and 
compelled to flee from Corsica to Leghorn, and 
thence to England.* At length that day of 
vengeance had arrived; and a French armament 
was sent to the aid of the rebel colonies in America. 
How singular was it that the same monarch who, in 
subsequent years, was destined to become the victim 
of the Jacobins, should himself have aided so effec- 
tually the cause of liberty! And how remarkable 
was it that Louis XVL, by thus dispatching assist- 
ance to the American revolutionists, and securing 
their eventual triumph, should by that very act 
have consummated an event which became the most 
potent cause of the outburst of that same revolution 
which afterward overturned his own dynasty, which 
hurled him from the throne, which consigned him 
and his queen to the guillotine, and which entailed 
innumerable miseries on his kingly race ! 

The first object proposed by the combined French 
and American forces was a descent on New York, 
to rescue it from the grasp of the British. This 
project was afterward abandoned, and the- French 
fleet proceeded to Newport. A personal interview 
was planned between the American commander 

* See the Conference of Dunant with General Paoli, July 24th, 
1768, detailed iu Grafton's Autobiograpli)-, p. 'J 10. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 79 

and Admiral Eochambeau. This meeting took 
place at Hartford, on the 20th of September. 
"Washington was nccompanied on this occasion by 
Lafayette, McHenr}', and ITamilton. The interview 
was satisfactory in its results. It enabled the com- 
manders of the respective forces to arrange their 
plans more definitely for the future. But the se- 
lection of Hamilton on this veiy important occa- 
sion, to accompany Washington, is an incident 
which reflects high honor on the youthful patriot. 

This was the period of the memorable treason of 
Arnold. When returning from Hartford, Washing- 
ton was first apprized of the flight of that traitor 
and the arrest of Andre. In reference to the fall 
of the British officer who was thus involved in the 
punishment which Arnold deserved, Hamilton, 
moved by a generous sympathy for the fate of one 
so young, so chivalrous, and so promising, exerted 
his utmost eftbrts to discover some legal and hon- 
orable expedient to save him. When all proved 
unavailing, he felt deeply for the unfortunate offi- 
cer, and published a narrative of the facts in the 
case, in a letter to his friend Laurens, which reflects 
equal credit, both upon his intellect and his heart. 
It was a model of elegance, clearness, simplicity 
and force in the art of narration. 

In a letter to Miss Elizabeth Schuyler, the 



80 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

daughter of the distinguished general of that name, 
Hamilton describes the execution of Andre with 
graphic power ; and thus speaks of that melancholy 
occurrence: "Poor Andre suffers to day; every 
thing that is amiable in virtue, in fortitude, in de- 
licate sentiment, and accomplished manners, pleads 
for him ; but hard-hearted policy calls for a sacri- 
tice. He must die. I send you my account of 
Arnold's affair, and to justify myself to your sen- 
timent, I must inform you that I urged a com- 
pliance with Andre's request to be shot, and I do 
not think it would have had an ill effect; but some 
people are only sensible to motives of policy, and 
sometimes, from a narrow disposition, mistake it." 
Genius and virtue threw all the fascinating hues 
of romance around the execution of this ill-fated son 
of destiny. Brave, generous, and lofty, endowed 
with the most exalted sense of honor, and a gal- 
lantry approaching the spirit of the old cavaliers 
of romance, possessing talents of the highest order, 
and an intellect cultivated to the most brilliant 
point of perfection; joined to all those refined sen- 
sibilities which constitute the poetry of life, and 
rescue men from the groveling vices and debasing 
passions of our kind, Andre became an object of 
interest and concern to all, but in a particular 
manner to Washington; who, being so richly 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 81 

gifted witli the same attributes, became fully qua- 
lified to appreciate his virtues, and to sympathize 
acutely in his misfortune. But however deeply he 
might feel, his natural firmness and heroic sense 
of duty to his country, and to liberty, constrained 
him by every obligation of patriotic duty to en- 
force the verdict of the court martial; and if a tear 
fell to moisten the paper, when he appended his 
signature to the warrant for the execution, it was 
the hallowed tribute which nature, in a virtuous 
bosom, ever pays to the afflictions of a noble mind, 
and redeemed the act of state jwlicy from every 
trace of revenge, cruelty, or design. 

The unceasing efiforts of the British government 
to rescue Andre from his impending fate, did honor 
to the country in whose service his life was so fruit- 
lessly sacrificed, and they wipe away some of the 
dark stains occasioned by the honors and rewards 
they bestowed on the traitor-knave who had enticed 
him into so disgraceful an end, and who, while 
virtue continues to be cherished, or patriotism re- 
warded with the applause of men, will be doomed 
to everlasting execration, as one who combined 
splendor of talents with the perfection of crime, 
and whose name will be appropriated by the remot- 
est generations of mankind, to cover with the 
leprosy of infamy all those vile deeds, whose atro- 



82 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

city may fail to be expressed in the common words 
of our language, but which will find an ample sub- 
stitute in the name of Benedict Arnold. 

Allied to some of the first families of Great Bri- 
tain, and placed by royal patronage in the highest 
path of preferment, the fate of Major Andre pro- 
duced an impression which extended even to the 
heart of the throne. Contracted in vows of love 
to one of the most beautiful and accomplished 
daughters of England, the fate of Andre became a 
touching theme for the poet, as well as an instruc- 
tive moral to the historian ; and while the bosom 
of beauty sighed over his fate, the lyre of the min- 
strel tuned a plaintive melody to his melancholy 
and ill-fated love. 

By Washington only could the execution of a 
sentence which awakened such profound and uni- 
versal sympathy, have been fulfilled without pro- 
ducing imputations of cruelty, and a vindictive 
thirst for blood. But the mild benevolence of 
his heart, the lofty justice of his mind, and the 
exalted purity of his intentions, interposed the bul- 
wark of humanity against the remotest suspicion 
of want of clemency. Washington never shed human 
blood but with anguish, and on occasions of the 
most dire necessity. He took no delight in scenes 
of carnage, and never exposed the lives of his sol- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 83 

diers more than was absolutely necessary to the 
purpose in hand; being more frugal of the expen- 
diture of life than any general who ever led a 
squadron to the field, in any age or country. 

The entire safety of the American cause pleaded 
with irresistible eloquence in favor of the execution 
of Andre; and the flight and escape of Arnold 
added weight to every consideration of policy that 
operated to induce the doom of the former. The 
attempt of the British alone to enter the American 
camp with overflowing purses of gold, tempting the 
weak and corrupting the wicked, demanded exem- 
plary punishment on the part of the commander- 
in-chief; and however sophistry might quibble 
about the justice of the sentence of the court mar- 
tial, on the ground that Andre did not enter the 
American lines in disguise, the fact never was dis- 
puted that he was arrested in disguise within the 
American lines. 

The whole deportment of Major Andre, however, 
was so frank, manly, and honorable, as to enlist 
among his warmest champions and admirers the 
most zealous friends of American independence, 
who only regretted that fortune should have favored 
the flight of the infamous traitor Arnold, while 
adversity cast her toils around his brilliant but less 
fortunate victim: for Andre confessed, with the 



84 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

frankness of a soldier, and the veracity of a man 
of honor, the object of his visit to West Point; 
and instead of obscuring the case by equivocations 
and conceahnent, threw himself at once on the 
magnanimity of his foes, by avowing his real de- 
signs. It will, however, notwithstanding the fact 
of his disguise, ever remain a disputed point, 
whether he could strictly be viewed in the light of 
a spy ; but the necessity of his execution w^as 
placed beyond a doubt, and his claim to be set at 
liberty, under all the circumstances, never could 
be fully established. Yet his death did not sully 
his fame, or cover him wdth opprobrium — having 
died like a hero as he had lived like a man of bra- 
very and honor. The most rigid patriot may shed 
a tear over his fate, may feel esteem for his virtues, 
and may express admiration for his heroism, valor, 
and genius. 

It is worthy of note that, at this early period, 
w^hile the colonies were involved in a struggle, the 
issue of which to most observers yet seemed doubt- 
ful ; while the minds of the most sagacious of 
American patriots were content to dwell on the 
present energies and wants of the country, the 
superior intellect of Hamilton already traveled 
forward to the future, discerned the ultimate issue 
of the conflict, and contemplated and discussed 



or ALEXANDEK HAMILTON. 85 

those great national measures which would then 
become essential to the establishment of the na- 
tional unity, harmony, and prosperity. In a letter 
written to James Duane, a distinguished patriot, 
in 1780, he discusses with a masterly hand, the 
nature and history of republican governments ; the 
proper sources of legitimate power among them; 
the dangers which surround them; the just pro- 
portion and distribution of power; and the advan- 
tages of a confederacy of States. He depicts the 
evils which have afflicted ancient and modern re- 
publics, and portrays their causes. He draws les- 
sons of profound political wisdom from their expe- 
rience and their misfortunes. He speaks wisely 
of the taxes, imports, commerce and revenue of 
free and representative States. He describes the 
proper distribution of the executive departments, 
the officers of the Federal government, and the 
just establishment and support of an army; and 
proposes wise and judicious remedies for all the 
evils which had occurred, and which might occur, 
in the administration of a free, federative, repub- 
lican government; how to proportion the taxes, 
how to collect them ; how to increase the revenue 
of the country without encroachments on personal 
liberty ; and how a National Bank might be estab- 
lished and conducted, which would prove a safe, 
8 



86 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

permanent source of individual and national wealth 
and prosperity. This production of this gifted 
statesman, written at that early period, and witk 
the few lights then existing on the subject, by 
which he indicates the very principles which were 
afterward in great part incorporated into the 
Federal Constitution itself, is an unequalled mo- 
nument of his intellect; and proves, that the or- 
phan boy of Nevis was in truth one of nature's 
master-pieces, born to assume a high and distin- 
guished place in the history of his times. 

The dissensions which now arose in Congress, ge- 
nerated by the quarrels and jealousies of our min- 
isters at foreign courts, produced no little elation 
in the minds of our enemies. The real character 
of the state of the country, at this period, will be 
best delineated by a letter written by "Washington 
himself, to one of his ablest political friends, in 
which he says : "I am particularly desirous of a free 
communication of sentiments with you at this time, 
because I view things very differently, I fear, from 
what people in general do, who seem to think the 
contest at an end, and that to make money, and get 
places, are the only things now remaining to be 
done. I have seen, without despondency, even for 
a moment, the hours which America has styled her 
gloomy ones ; but I have beheld no day since the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 87 

commencement of hostilities, when I have thought 
her liberties in such imminent danger as at present. 
Friends and foes seem now to combine to pull down 
the goodly fabric we have hitherto been raising, at 
the expense of so much time, blood, and treasure ; 
and unless the bodies politic will exert themselves 
to bring things back to first principles, correct 
abuses, and punish our internal foes, inevitable ruin 
must follow. Indeed, we seem to be verging so 
fast to destruction, that I am filled with sensations 
to which I have been a stranger until within these 
three months. Our enemies behold with exultation 
and joy how effectually we labor for their benefit — 
and from being in a state of absolute despair, and 
on the point of evacuating America, are now on 
tiptoe. Nothing, therefore, in my judgment, can 
save us but a total reformation in our own conduct, 
or some decisive turn of affairs in Europe. The 
former, alas! (to our shame be it spoken,) is less 
likely to happen than the latter, as it is now consist- 
tent with the views of the speculators, various tribes 
of money makers, and stock-jobbers of all denomi- 
nations, to continue the war for their own private 
emolument, without considering that this avarice 
and thirst for gain must plunge every thing, inclu- 
ding themselves, in one common ruin. 

" It is a fact too notorious to be concealed, that 



88 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Congress is rent by party — that much business of a 
trifling nature, and personal concernment, with- 
draws their attention from matters of great na- 
tional moment at this critical period : when it is 
also known that idleness and dissipation take place 
of close attention and application. Believe me 
when I tell you there is danger of it. I have pretty 
good reasons for thinking that administration, a 
little while ago, had resolved to give the matter up, 
and negociate a peace with us upon almost any 
terms ; but I shall be much mistaken if they do not 
now, from the present state of our currency, dis- 
sensions, and other circumstances, push matters to 
the utmost extremity. Nothing, I am sure, will 
prevent it but the interruption of Spain, and their 
disappointed hope from Russia." 

Thus, with a comprehensive eye and an ever 
wakeful patriotism, did Washington penetrate to 
the causes of weakness, lament the obstacles to 
our independence, and labor to soothe irritation, 
remove difficulties, and promote union, harmony, 
and success. But whatever hopes the English might 
then cherish from existing dissensions were speedily 
dissipated by that recuperative energy and common 
sense of danger, which recalled the minds of men 
from the spoils of victory to the acquisition of per- 
manent and rational liberty. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 89 

Active hostilities were now transferred from the 
northern and middle States to South Carolina and 
Georgia, where a large body of tories, disaffected to 
the cause of freedom, inspired the enemy with san- 
guine hopes of making an easy conquest of those 
States ; in which attempt they at first but too well 
succeeded. 

Serious discontents of a seditious character, hav- 
ing appeared in the Jersey brigade, Washington, 
with his usr.cil address and patriotism, labored to 
arrest it by the persuasion of his eloquence. The 
want of pay, and other evils incident to a deranged 
and rotten currency, were of too deep a nature to 
be very patiently borne or easily healed. 

Washington now directed his attention to the 
Indian settlements; and having dispatched Colonel 
Van Schaik and General Sullivan against some of 
the towns of the Onandagoes, a complete devasta- 
tion of their country and farms was effected. 

In J^ovember, 1780, the American Congress had 
concluded to send an Envoy Extraordinary to 
France, for the purpose of procuring from that 
country more extensive and efficient aid. Colonel 
Hamilton was selected by Washington, by Lafay- 
ette, and other leading statesmen, to fill this import- 
ant post. At first it seemed probable that the 
proffered service would be accepted. But at that 
8* 



90 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

moment information arrived tliat Henry Laurens, 
formerly President of Congress, vvlio had been ap- 
pointed a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with 
the United Provinces, had been arrested in Eng- 
land and imprisoned. This induced a desire on 
the part of Hamilton's friend, Col. Laurens, the 
son of the captive commissioner, to go abroad in 
order to obtain his father's release. As soon as 
Hamilton learned the willingness of his friend to 
undertake the mission, he generously relinquished 
all pretensions of his own, and insisted on the ap- 
pointment of Mr. Laurens. On the 11th of De- 
cember, 1780, that gentleman was accordingly 
elected by Congress as Envoy of the colonies to 
France. Previous to the departure of Mr. Lau- 
rens, General Washington desired that he should 
be furnished with a minute letter of instructions, 
which, as Lafayette suggested, would add consider- 
able weight and efficiency to his representations. 
The honorable and difficult task of preparing this 
letter was committed by Washington to the execu- 
tion of Mr. Hamilton ; and it was composed with 
his usual prudence, ability, and success. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 91 



CHAPTER V. 

MARBIAGE OP HAMILTON — QUARREL BETTVEEN HAMILTON AND WASHING- 
TON — HAMILTON nETIRES FROM THE CAMP — HIS PLAN OF A NATIONAL 
BANK — WRITES THE CONTINENTALIST — HE RETURNS TO THE CAMP — 
INCIDENTS AT YORKTOWN — HEROISM OF HAMILTON AT THE CAPTURE OP 
CORNWALLIS — GLORIOUS RESULTS OP THAT VICTORY — HAMILTON RE- 
TURNS TO ALBANY — COMMENCES THE STtDY OP THE LAW — IS APPOINTED 
RECEIVER OF CONTINENTAL TAXES — HIS ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 

These interesting occurrences in the life of Ha- 
milton were concluded toward the end of the year, 
by his marriage with Miss Elizabeth Schuyler, the 
second daughter of General Philip Schuyler, the 
eminent revolutionary soldier and patriot. This 
event took place at Albany, the residence of the 
bride's father, on the 14th of December, 1780. 

Among the many gallant and distinguished young 
men who were known to the family circle of Ge- 
neral Schuyler, not a few might have reasonably 
aspired to the honor of the lady's hand. But 
among that brilliant company the young "West 
Indian, then in his twenty-fourth year, and already 
classed with the most eminent soldiers and patriots 
of the land, triumphantly bore away the prize. 
He was indeed not undeserving of this preference. 



02 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

He was young, handsome in person, of spotless 
character, of splendid abilities, possessing a high 
fame, and enjoying the most flattering prospects of 
the future. The bride was beautiful, accomplished, 
talented, and well-born. Her vivacity, intelligence, 
and amiability, had rendered her an universal fa- 
vorite in the polished circles of Albany, at that time 
one of the most select and cultivated towns in the 
country. Rarely had a more distinguished and 
appropriate match been accomplished; and the 
many friends of the young couple rejoiced at their 
felicity. This union, as might readily be supposed, 
was congenial in the highest degree ; and was pro- 
ductive of the utmost happiness. They enjoyed 
twenty-four years of domestic comfort, which 
seemed but to increase, as the progress of time accu- 
mulated new honors on the head of the gifted 
statesman; until at last, the bloody hand of one 
who has not inappropriately been termed his assas- 
sin, ended a career of unsurpassed usefulness and 
honor, by a violent death and a premature grave. 

A few weeks after the marriage of Hamilton, on 
the 16th of February, 1781, a somewhat singular 
and disagreeable incident occurred between himself 
and the commander-in-chief, which exerted some 
influence on his future career. 

He had now been nearly four years in the family 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 93 

of "Washington, as his aid-de-camp. He had se- 
cured, by his superior abilities and integrity, the 
first place in his confidence. But the position had 
always been one in some respects disagreeable to 
Hamilton, inasmuch as it placed him in a state of 
dependence on the will and subject to the caprices 
of another. On the day just mentioned a breach 
occurred between them which put an end to this 
relation, though between men of such intelligence 
and such integrity it could not diminish their mutual 
confidence and respect. 

The incidents of the dispute were these ; and tri- 
vial enough they were to have led to such important 
consequences. Washington and Hamilton passed 
each other on the stairs at the head-quarters of the 
army, then located at Morristown, in New Jersey. 
The general said he wished to speak to Hamilton. 
The latter answered that he would wait on him im- 
mediately. Hamilton went below and delivered a 
letter of importance to Mr. Tilghman, which was 
to be sent immediately to the Commissary, as it 
contained an order of the most pressing nature. 
As Hamilton reascended the stairs he was met by 
General Lafayette. The latter detained him a few 
moments in conversation. "When Hamilton reached 
th«- head of the stairs he met General "Washington, 
who had left his own apartment and come forward 



94 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

to accost him. He exclaimed in an angry tone: 
" Col. Hamilton, you have kept me waiting for you 
these ten minutes. I must tell you, sir, you treat 
me with disrespect." Hamilton replied: "I am 
not conscious of it, sir; but since you have thought 
it necessary to tell me so, we part." " Very well, 
sir," responded Washington, "if it be your choice." 

Such was the cause of this unfortunate difficulty. 
The truth was that Washington, harassed by ten 
thousand cares, had in a moment of thoughtlessness 
given way to a little petulance which was quite excus- 
able ; and that Hamilton, wearied with the disagree- 
able dependence which always attends the position 
and functions of an aid-de-camp, determined to em- 
brace the opportunity thus afforded to put an end 
to a relation which he had long endured only from 
patriotic and disinterested motives, and from a 
powerful attachment to the person and career of 
Washington. 

True to the greatness of his character, scarcely 
an hour had elapsed before Washington sent Mr. 
Tilghman to Hamilton to express to him his great 
confidence in his abilities, integrity, and usefulness, 
and desired to heal the difference which had been 
caused by a moment of unguarded irritation. But 
Hamilton persisted in his resolution to embrace 
that opportunity to withdraw from the general's 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 95 

family, and to enter on a more free and uncon- 
strained career; and therefore, while giving utter- 
ance to the boundless admiration and honor with 
which he regarded the commander-in-chief, de- 
clined to change his resolution to withdraw from 
his family. Yet this separation, unpleasant as it 
was to both parties, did not in the least impair 
their friendship ; and in subsequent years Hamilton 
still stood first in the confidence of "Washington, 
for ability, integrity, and patriotism. 

Hamilton applied to the commander-in-chief, 
shortly after this separation, for an independent 
command. But there were insuperable difficulties 
in the way, arising from the jealousy of older offi- 
cers in seeing a younger one promoted over them; 
and the request was refused. Lafayette, who was 
stationed at this period at Richmond, in command 
of the southern portion of the army, invited Ha- 
milton to take command of the artillery companies 
in that service, and urgently pressed upon him to 
comply with the ofiier. 

But Hamilton's mind was at this period, in April, 
1781, engaged in elaborating several financial 
schemes intended to relieve the pecuniary wants of 
the country; and the fruit of his investigation he 
embodied in another letter to Robert Morris, dis- 
cussing the causes of the depreciation of the Con- 



96 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tinental currency, indicating the most efficient 
means for increasing its value, and detailing a 
charter for a bank, to be adopted and incorporated 
by Congress. In this communication he boldly 
asserts the principle that, " it is in a National Bank 
alone, that we can find the ingredients to constitute a 
wholesome, solid, and beneficial paper credit.'' The 
opinion entertained of this elaborate and lengthy 
production by the distinguished financier to whom 
it was addressed, may be inferred from the follow- 
ing words contained in the letter sent by Mr. Mor- 
ris in reply to Hamilton : " My office is new, (Su- 
perintendent of Finance,) and I am young in the 
execution of it. Communications from men of 
genius and abilities will always be acceptable, and 
yours will ever command the attention of your 
obedient humble servant." The plans suggested 
by Mr. Hamilton were submitted by Mr. Morris to 
Congress, and adopted on the 26th of May, 1781. 

The next project of Mr. Hamilton had reference 
to the future establishment of a convention of 
States. In order to promote the consummation of 
this result, he devoted himself to the composition 
of a series of masterly essays, under the title of the 
Continentalist, the first number of which appeared 
in July, 1781. They present a worthy foreshadowing 
of the unrivaled power and splendor which were 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 97 

destined afterward to shine forth from every page 
of " Publius" in the Federalist. In these essays he 
discussed the defects of the existing confederacy 
between the colonies ; asserts the propriety and 
advantage of concentrating efficient power in the 
central government ; and exposes the absurdity of 
that jealousy of the federal authority which some 
of the colonies had displayed. He clearly described 
the powers with which an efficient federal govern- 
ment ought to be invested. He showed how it 
ought to regulate trade, how it should grant boun- 
ties and premiums, how it should impose duties, 
appoint officers of the customs, lay embargos, levy 
taxes, dispose of unseated lands, appropriate the 
products of the mines, and appoint all officers in the 
land and naval service. 

He established, with great clearness and force of 
reasoning, the position that, in all federative go- 
vernments, the great danger is, lest in consequence 
of the jealousies of its members, its powers will be 
too much restricted; that it will not possess suf- 
ficient resources to protect itself, and thereby pre- 
serve the blessings which such a union is intended 
to confer ; and that it is never possible, in the nature 1| 
of things, for the central power to become formida- 
ble to the general liberty. "A mere regard to the 
interests of the confederacy, will never be a princi- 
9 



98 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

pie sufficiently active to curb the ambition and in- 
trigues of diflerent members. Force cannot affect it. 
A contest of arms will seldom take place between the 
common sovereign and a single refractory member, 
but between distinct combinations of the several 
parts against each other, a sympathy of situations 
will be apt to produce associates to the disobedient." 
At the early age of twenty-four, the prophetic eye 
of this in-born statesman foresaw, even while the 
country was panting and fainting under the ponder- 
ous load of a protracted war with the greatest of 
European powers, and the issue seemed doubtful 
even to the most patriotic and sanguine, — he then 
foresaw the future splendors of the land of his adop- 
tion. Says he: "There is something noble and 
magnificent in the perspective of a great Federative 
Republic, closely linked in the pursuit of a common 
interest, tranquil and prosperous at home, respecta- 
ble abroad; there is something proportionably 
diminutive and contemptible in the prospect of a 
number of petty States, with the appearance only 
of union, — -jarring, jealous and perverse, — without 
any determined direction, fluctuating and unhappy 
at home, weak and insignificant by their dissensions 
in the eyes of other nations. Happy America, if 
those to whom thou hast intrusted the guardian- 
ship of thy infancy, know how to provide for thy 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 99 

future repose; but miserable and undone if their 
negligence or ignorance permits the spirit of dis- 
cord to erect her banners on the ruins of thy tran- 
quillity." 

In the spring of 1781, hostilities with England were 
again resumed, and the revolutionaiy struggle pro- 
ceeded. Washington resolved to attack ISTew York, 
and preparatory to that decisive movement he judged 
it advisable to hold an interview with the French 
commander. General Eochambeau. For this purpose 
he again visited Newport. The degree of confidence 
and esteem which Washington still entertained for 
Hamilton, notwithstanding their temporary cool- 
ness, may be inferred from the following letter, 
which was written at this time : " Dear Hamilton — 
I shall be obliged to you for the answer to the 
address, as soon as it is convenient to you. If we 
do not ride to the Point to see the fleet pass out, I 
am to have a conference with the Count de Eoch- 
ambeau, and the engineer, directly after breakfast, 
at which I wish you to be present. I am sincerely 
and affectionately yours." 

From Newport, Hamilton returned to Albany, 
and remained there a short time. In July, finding 
that his application for a separate command in the 
army would not be complied with, he wrote to 
AVashington enclosing his commission. lie proba- 



100 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

bly did this at the suggestion, certainly with the 
approval, of his young wife. Washington declined 
to receive the resignation of Col. Hamilton, and 
promised to bestow the coveted command on the 
first available opportunity. This offer was accepted 
by Hamilton, and he withdrew his resignation. 
He returned to the camp at Dobb's Ferry, a posi- 
tion on the Hudson river, twenty miles above New 
York. 

It was at this time Washington received the first 
information of the arrival of the French squadron 
under the Count de Grasse, off the coast of Virginia. 
A council of war was instantly summoned, at which 
"Washington invited Mr. Hamilton to be present. 
After considerable discussion it was determined to 
relinquish the proposed attack on New York, and 
by a forced march to proceed toward Virginia. It 
was hoped that by an effective union with the 
approaching French armament, the capture or 
defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown might be accom- 
plished. 

To render the consummation of this glorious 
enterprise more certain, it was kept studiously con- 
cealed, and a false destination of the army was an- 
nounced. Sir Henry Clinton, the commander of the 
British forces in New York, was completely duped. 
But one difficulty impeded the execution of the bold 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON-. 101 

plan wliicli liad been adopted by General Washing- 
ton. This was the want of the necessary means to 
remove the army to its distant destination. In this 
crisis, the great talents of Robert Morris as a finan- 
cier were brought into requisition. He undertook 
to obtain the necessary means. In an incredibly 
short space of time he secured all the transport ves- 
sels on the Delaware, provided supplies of provisions 
along the whole intended route of the army, and 
even raised a portion of the necessary funds on his 
own private responsibility. If the capture of Corn- 
wallis covered the American arms with imperisha- 
ble glory ; if it was the means of terminating that 
long, exhaustive struggle with an honorable peace ; 
if that peace opened the way to the future ^power 
and prosperity of these confederate States ; if, in a 
word, the triumph at Yorktown was the birth-cause 
of the present greatness and felicity of this republic ; 
then no inconsiderable degree of the merit of all 
these fortunate results is due to the energy, ability, 
and patriotism of Robert Morris, at this critical and 
decisive moment of American history. 

When the army was about to march for Virginia, 
Hamilton received his wished-for command, and 
prepared to accompany the expedition. His only 
regret upon this distant venture, was the pain which 
his absence would inflict on his young bride. His 
9* 



102 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

own feelings on the subject may be inferred from 
the following extract from a letter to her which he 
wrote from the camp: "A part of the army, my 
dear girl, is going to Virginia, and I must of neces- 
sity be separated at a much greater distance from 
my beloved wife. I cannot announce the fatal 
necessity, without feeling every thing that a fond 
husband can feel. lam unhappy; lam unhappy 
beyond expression. I am unhappy because I am 
to be so remote from you ; because I am to hear 
from you less frequently than I am accustomed to 
do. I am miserable because I know you will be so; 
I am wretched at the idea of flying so far from you 
without a single hour's interview, to tell you all my 
pains and all my love. But I cannot ask permission 
to visit you. It might be thought improper to leave 
my corps at such a time, and upon such an occasion. 
I must go without seeing you ; I must go without 
embracing you ; — alas ! I must go. But let no idea 
other than of the distance we shall be asunder, dis- 
quiet you." 

On the 22d August, 1781, the march com- 
menced, and on the 6th September the army reached 
the head of the Elk. From this point Hamilton 
again wrote to his wife. He says: "I cannot re- 
fuse myself the pleasure of writing you a few lines. 
Constantly uppermost in my thoughts and affec- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 103 

tions, I am happy only when my movements are 
devoted to some office that respects you. I would 
give the world to be able to tell you all I feel, and 
all I wish ; but consult your own heart, and you 
will know mine. What a world will soon be be- 
tween us ? To support the idea, all my fortitude 
will be insufficient. What must be the case 
with you, who have the most female of female 
hearts. I sink at the perspective of your distress, 
and I look to Heaven to be your guardian and sup- 
port. Every day confirms me in the intention of 
renouncing public life, and devoting myself wholly 
to 3^ou. Let others waste their time and their tran- 
quillity in a vain pursuit of power and glory; be it 
my object to be happy in a quiet retreat, with my 
better angel." 

On the 22d of September the allied armies 
reached the harbor between Jamestown and Wil- 
liamsburg. On the 28th they arrived before the 
enemy's works at Yorktown. The position of 
Cornwallis was one of considerable strength, and 
its defenses had been judiciously erected. It was si- 
tuated on a peninsula formed by the junction of 
the York and James rivers, near their approach 
to the Chesapeake. To this position Cornwallis 
had been driven, by being intercepted in his 
retreat into the interior of Virginia on the one 



104 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

side, and by the squadron of De Grasse, which 
excluded all deliverance from the British fleet at 
sea. On this point therefore he had concentrated 
all his forces, amounting to seven thousand men, 
and had determined to make a spirited resistance. 
On one hand, to the west, he was protected by an 
arm of the river, by a deep morass, and by a pre- 
cipitous ravine. To the north, the high banks 
of the river were unfavorable to an attack ; and he 
had mounted them with a formidable array of artil- 
lery. Several British ships of war were stationed 
in the river at this point, to co-operate in the de- 
fense. On the south and southwest, his camp was 
protected by an extensive and formidable line of 
field fortifications. 

On the 6th of October the American army took 
their position and opened their first parallel. They 
were then six hundred yards from the enemy's 
works. Hamilton now moved his corps of light 
infantry within the works. Six heavy batteries, 
partly French and partly American, played conti- 
nually on the British lines, and did immense execu- 
tion. One of the men-of-war in the river, being set on 
fire by a red hot shot from a French battery, burned 
to the water's edge. On the 12th the second pa- 
rallel was opened, and the allies were now within 
three hundred and fifty yards of the enemy's bat- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 105 

teries. The bombardment continued without in- 
termission day and night. At this point of the 
siege, two batteries, detached from the rest of the 
works of the besieged, greatly annoyed the assail- 
ants ; and it became necessary to take them by as- 
sault. The work on the extreme left was assigned 
to an American detachment ; that on the right to a 
French. The former was commanded by Col. Ha- 
milton, the latter by De Viomenil. 

The signal for the commencement of this peri- 
lous service, was the discharge of a shell from 
the American battery, to be answered by a corres- 
ponding one from the French. The signal being 
given at the appointed time, Hamilton rushed for- 
ward at the head of his detachment to the attack. 
So great was his impetuosity that, before bis men 
had ascended the abatis, he had mounted on the 
parapet ; and there he stood with three only of his 
gallant soldiers, waving to his corps to advance. 
Under a heavy and destructive fire the heroic com- 
pany pressed onward. Soon they reached the coun- 
terscarp, passed the ditch and palisades, and en- 
tered with their commander into the work. Here 
a sharp conflict ensued; but soon the ardor and 
bravery of the assailants overpowered the defend- 
ers of the redoubt, and it was taken. As soon as 
the enemy ceased to resist, quarter was allowed 



106 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

them. No one was slain who yielded ; although a 
more sanguinary policy might readily have been 
defended, in view of the ferocity which had fre- 
quently characterized the conduct of the British on 
former occasions. Only a few days before an Ame- 
rican colonel had been wantonly slain, after he had 
been captured, when reconnoitering the position 
of the enemy, in violation of every dictate of honor 
and humanity. But Col. Hamilton forbade his men 
to retaliate on this occasion, though an opposite 
course could have been so well justified. 

After the capture of both of the redoubts, the 
allies moved forward and drew their third parallel. 
The fate of the besieged now became desperate. 
They endeavored on the night of the 15th to release 
themselves by a vigorous sortie. This also proved 
unsuccessful. An attempt was then made by Corn- 
wallis to cross the river in boats to Gloucester, and 
escape thence by land to New York. In this pur- 
pose he was defeated by the vigilance of the Ame- 
ricans, who erected new batteries on the river 
banks ; and by the occurrence of a furious storm, 
which opportunely arose, tore the boats from their 
moorings and drove them down the river. The 
allies now prepared to make a general assault along 
the whole line of their works; but before they 
could execute this purpose, Washington received 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 107 

proposals of surrender from Lord Cornwallis. Soon 
a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon ; and 
after the terms of capitulation had been discussed 
and arranged, Cornwallis surrendered. Colonel 
Laurens, the friend of Hamilton, whose father was 
still a captive of the British king, in the Tower of 
Loudon, was selected most appropriately to receive 
the sword of the vanquished tool of despotism. 
This glorious event may be said to have virtually 
ended the war ; and thus in its closing and most 
memorable scene, Hamilton was permitted to en- 
act a highly important and honorable part. 

Every event on the part of the United States had, 
for some time, been conspiring to render a peace 
absolutely necessary to their presei'vation. The trea- 
sury was exhausted. No portion of the taxes could 
be realized ; the army was discontented, because it 
was impoverished; and it was seditious, because 
smarting under wrongs which it had power, as well 
as inclination, to redress. "Washington, ever watch- 
ful over the welfare of his country, had exhausted 
the resources of his genius, the influence of his 
character, and the force of his eloquence, to remove 
or mitigate these evils ; but in vain : even his in- 
fluence was compelled to yield beneath a combina- 
tion of evils, which no human fortitude could endure, 
nor patience submit to. Still, Washington had the 



108 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

singular address and good fortune not to quell the 
spirit which sought for justice, but to turn the feel- 
ings that were inflamed by wrongs into a harmless 
channel. On this occasion, his services to his coun- 
try were not of less importance than his most bril- 
liant military achievements ; and being based on 
feelings of equity, benevolence, and justice, they far 
eclipse in moral grandeur the most sanguine trophies 
that a martial victor ever displayed to the applause 
of people intoxicated by the false glare of glory. 

Thus terminated the war of seven years for Ame- 
rican Independence, of which Hamilton had been, 
in so great a measure, the pillar and support ; 
which originated in a difference apparently trifling ; 
which was prosecuted through a series of difficulties 
and embarrassments unexampled in the history of 
mankind; and which was finally achieved by those 
unseen combinations and auspicious events which 
baffle and perplex the sagacity of man, at the 
same time that they excite his gratitude and admi- 
ration. 

Throughout this long and arduous struggle, the 
whole American people displayed those virtues 
which most ennoble human nature ; and their pa- 
tience, toil, bravery, and forbearance, entitle them 
to rank with any nation on the fiice of the globe. 
But in a peculiar manner were they indebted to 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 109 

those so]id virtues in the character of "Washing- 
ton, which combined with his high faculties of 
genius and intellect to conduct them triumphantly 
through its fiery ordeal, and place them on the emi- 
nence whose lofty and glittering peak attracted the 
attention and applause of the world. Commenced 
without preparation, equally destitute of money, 
arms and discipline, the revolution depended almost 
wholly for success upon the genius and resources of 
the commander-in-chief, whose peculiar character 
alone fitted him to uphold it amidst adversity, rally 
it under defeat, and preserve it unbroken amidst 
convulsions. The experience in the case of General 
Gates fully evinced what would have been its me- 
lancholy catastrophe, had the impetuous ambition 
of a fiery and adventurous commander led on its 
starved battalions ; or an intriguing and unprincipled 
adventurer, like Conway or Arnold, had the dis- 
bursement of its funds, or the management of that 
suffering and seditious mass of undisciplined men, 
who could only be preserved in subordination by the 
personal influence of George "Washington — his vir- 
tues, his genius, and his patriotism. 

On the 25th of November, 1783, the British eva- 
cuated New York, and the American troops took 
possession of the town. Washington, accompanied 
by Governor Clinton, now made his public entry 
10 



110 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

into the city ; after which he proposed to bid adieu 
to his companions in arms, prior to a resignation of 
his military command. 

The account which Gordon has given us of this 
parting scene, would sufi'er by any abridgment : 
" This affecting interview took place on the 4th of 
December. At noon, the principal officers of the 
army assembled at Francis' tavern ; soon after which 
their beloved commander entered the room. His 
emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling 
a glass, he turned to them and said, ' With a heart 
full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you ; 
I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be 
as prosperous and happy as your former ones have 
been glorious and honorable.' Having drank, he 
added, ' I cannot come to each of you to take my 
leave, but shall be obliged to you, if each of you 
will come and take me by the hand.' General Knox 
being nearest, turned to him ; incapable of utter- 
ance, Washington grasped his hand, and embraced 
him. In the same affectionate manner, he took 
leave of each succeeding officer. In every eye stood 
the tears of dignilied sensibility ; and not a word 
was articulated to interrupt the majestic silence and 
the tenderness of the scene. Leaving the room, he 
passed through the corps of light infantry, and 
walked to Whitehall, where a barge awaited to carry 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Ill 

him to Pawles' Hook. The whole company fol- 
lowed in mute and solemn procession, with dejected 
countenances, testifying the feelings of delicious 
melancholy which no language can describe. Ilav 
ing entered the barge, he turned to the company, 
and, waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. 
They paid him the same afi'ectionate compliment, 
and after the barge had left them, returned in the 
same solemn manner to the place where they had 
assembled." 

Congress was then in session at Annapolis, and 
thither Washington repaired to resign his commis- 
sion into their hands. This eventful incident took 
place on the 23d of December, 1783. Having been 
introduced by the secretary, he delivered the fol- 
lowing address : 

" Mr. President : — The great events on which my 
resignation depended, having at length taken place, 
I have now the h onor of offering my sincere congra- 
tulations to Congress, and of presenting myself be- 
fore them, to surrender into their hands the trust 
committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of 
retiring from the service of my country. 

" Happy in the confirmation of our independence 
and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity 
afforded the United States of becoming a respecta- 
ble nation, I resign with satisfaction the appoint- 



112 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

ment I accepted with diffidence ; a diffidence in my 
abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which 
however was superseded by a confidence in the 
rectitude of our cause, the support of the su- 
preme POWER OF the union, and the patronage of 
Heaven. 

" The successful termination of the war has veri- 
fied the most sanguine expectations ; and my grati- 
tude for the interposition of Providence, and the 
assistance I have received from my countrymen, 
increases with every review of the momentous 
contest. 

"While I repeat my obligations to the army in 
general, I should do injustice to my own feelings, 
not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar ser- 
vices and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who 
have been attached to my person during the war. 
It was impossible the choice of confidential officers 
to compose my family should have been more for- 
tunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular, 
those who have continued in the service to the pre- 
sent moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and 
patronage of Congress. 

"I consider it as an indispensable duty to close 
this last act of my official life, by commending the 
interests of our dearest country, to the protection of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 113 

Almighty God, and those who have the superintend- 
ence of them to his holy keeping. 

"Having now finished the work assigned me, I 
retire from the great theatre of action, and bidding 
an affectionate address to this august body, under 
whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my 
commission, and take my leave of all the employ- 
ments of public life." 

To this address Congress returned an appropriate 
reply, couched in the language of gratulation, grati- 
tude and affection. 

Finding himself thus relieved from the cares of 
public life, he now retired to Mount Vernon, fol- 
lowed by the esteem, admiration, and love of the 
whole American people. 

It would, perhaps, have been more consonant with 
the unobtrusive and simple principles of genuine 
republicanism, had this virtuous and laudable feel- 
ing of veneration for their late chief been restrained 
within the limits of addresses, resolutions, and decla- 
rations of gratitude and attachment; instead of 
manifesting its extravagance in statues, monuments, 
and columns, whose pomp seemed to imitate the 
tinsel of royal governments, and might tend to cor- 
rupt the integrity of republican truth. Great as 
the immortal founder of the Republic was by nature, 
and still greater by his achievements, no outward 
10* 



114 THF LIFE AND TIMES 

homage could increase his glory, no splendor of mag- 
nificence could inflate him with pride. 

Unmoved by the torrent of adulation which flowed 
upon him, he devoted his hours to domestic happi- 
ness, and the pursuits and improvements of agricul- 
ture, which had always been his favorite occupation. 
His feelings on his retirement will be best un- 
derstood by his own expression of them. In a letter 
to Governor Clinton, three days after his reaching 
Mount Vernon, he says : " The scene is at length 
closed. I feel myself eased of a load of public care, 
and hope to spend the remainder of my days in cul- 
tivating the afi'ections of good men, and in the prac- 
tice of the domestic virtues." In another to Lafay- 
ette, he thus unfolds the sound philosophy of his 
mind and the benevolent emotions of his heart : " At 
length, my dear Marquis, I have become a private 
citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and, under the 
shadow of my own vine and my own fig tree, free 
from the bustle of a camp, and the busy scenes of 
public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil 
enjoyments, of which the soldier, who is ever in 
pursuit of fame — the statesman, whose watchful days 
and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes 
to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin 
of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient 
for us all — and the courtier, who is always watching 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 115 

the countenance of his prince, in the hope of catch- 
ing a gracious smile, can have very little conception. 
I have not only retired from all public employments, 
but am retiring within myself, and shall be able to 
view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of pri- 
vate life, with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of 
none, I am determined to be pleased with all ; and 
this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, 
I will move gently down the stream of life, until I 
sleep with my fathers." 

It was evident, however, that this desire of private 
contentment required a struggle ; and that his mind, 
long accustomed to public command, could not im- 
mediately subside into the tranquil current of domes- 
tic ease. In a letter to General Knox, he thus de- 
picts this difficulty of weaning his thoughts from the 
turmoil of public affairs ; "I am just beginning to 
experience the ease and freedom from public cares, 
which, however desirable, takes some time to realize ; 
for, strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, 
that it was not until lately I could get the better of 
my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I awoke 
in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day, 
and of my surprise at finding, after revolving many 
things in my mind, that I was no longer a public 
man, or had any thing to do with public transac- 
tions. I feel now, however, as I conceive a wearied 



116 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

traveler must do, who, after treading many a pain- 
ful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is 
eased of the latter, having reached the haven to 
which all the former were directed, and from his 
house-top is looking back, and tracing with an eager 
eye, the meanders by which he escaped the quick- 
sands and mires which lay in his way, and into 
which none but the all-powerful Guide and Dis- 
penser of human events, could have prevented his 
falling." 

He now devoted himself to agriculture and to plans 
of internal improvement; for which purpose he ex- 
plored the western parts of Virginia, Ohio, and 
Pennsylvania, and particularly directed his attention 
\ to the advancement of the navigation of the Potomac 
land James rivers. Extending his views to the western 
country, he prepared a luminous exposition of the 
Bound policy of connecting that section of the Union 
^ore closely with the eastern States, by means of in- 
ternal improvements. 

After these events, toward the close of 1781, 
Hamilton returned to his wife at Albany. He 
spent the ensuing winter in the enjoyment of do- 
mestic happiness in the family of General Schuyler. 
The proclamation of a peace was confidently expected 
in the spring of 1782 ; and it became necessary for him 
to select some pursuit or profession to which his euer- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 117 

gies and talents might in future be directed. After 
considerable deliberation, he determined to devote 
himself to the profession of the law. Happily for 
the interests of his adopted country, his great abili- 
ties were to be still consecrated to her service ; and 
he was destined to become one of the most promi- 
nent and useful of those master spirits who moulded 
her constitution, who enacted her laws, who com- 
bined and consolidated her resources, and who elabo- 
rated for her that glorious career which she has 
since so happily eompleted. Hamilton accordingly 
apprized General Washington of his withdrawal 
from active service. He then resumed his residence 
at Albany; and inviting his old friend Colonel 
Troup to make his house his home, he commenced 
the study of the law. 

To this dry and intricate science Hamilton now 
devoted himself with his characteristic ardor ; and 
his vastly superior talents well adapted him to the 
comprehension of legal principles, and to the acquisi- 
tion of legal knowledge. It is not singular therefore 
that his progress was rapid. Hamilton acquired in 
a day what an ordinary student could scarcely com- 
pass in a week. At the same time it was happily 
the case, that the jurisprudence which he was called 
upon to study was comparatively simple. Its chief 
burden consisted in the acquisition of the principles 



118 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of the common law of England, which was also 
the law of the colony of New York. The vast 
bulk of precedents and reported cases which over- 
power the strongest mind of the present day, with 
their enormous mass and their infinite and frequently 
contradictory variety, did not then exist. "We will 
not be surprised therefore to learn that Hamilton 
prepared himself for admission to the bar in the 
incredibly short period of four months, and that he 
was licensed as an attorney at the end of that time. 
We know of but a single instance of a similar na- 
ture in the history of the great men of our coun- 
try; and, strange to say, that man was closely 
and fatally connected with the career and fate of 
Hamilton. It was Aaron Burr. Yet short as 
was this period of probation, Hamilton's success 
in legal studies may be inferred from the fact, that 
during that time he prepared a "Manual on the Prac- 
tice of the Law," which possessed superior merit; 
and which, says his friend Troup, himself a well- 
read lawyer, " served as an instructive grammar to 
future students, and became the groundwork of 
subsequent enlarged practical treatises." 

It was also during the progress of his hurried 
though competent preparation for the bar, that Ha- 
milton received a distinguished evidence of the 
esteem and confidence of Robert Morris, at that 
time the Superintendent of Finance to the United 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 119 

States. This gentleman oifered Hamilton the re- 
sponsible ojSBce of Receiver of the Continental 
Taxes in the State of N"ew York. 

This honorable oiFer Hamilton at first declined. 
The quota of taxes for New York was about three 
hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. He 
was oflered a fourth per cent, on the amount col- 
lected. Mr. Morris concludes the letter proposing 
the appointment by saying : " I make no profes- 
sions of my confidence and esteem, because I hope 
none are necessary ; but if they are, my wish that 
you would accept the ofiler I make, is the strongest 
evidence I can give of them." But upon examin- 
ing the nature of his duties as Receiver, and the 
amount of salary which he would probably realize 
from the appointment, not exceeding, as he sup- 
posed, a hundred pounds; and finding that those 
duties would seriously interfere with his legal stu-' 
dies, Hamilton concluded to decline the ofiibr. He 
informed Mr. Morris of this determination by letter. 
That gentleman, still unwilling to lose the services 
of so able and valuable an ofiicer, modified his 
proposal to Mr. Hamilton in such a way that both 
the salary would be increased, and his duties would 
be of such a nature only as not to interfere with 
his legal studies. This second and more urgent 
proposition on the part of Mr. Morris, Hamilton 
thought it his duty to accept. 



120 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

He immediately proceeded to Poughkeepsie, 
where the Legislature of New York then was in 
session, in order to convince that body of the ne- 
cessity of providing copious supplies for the Conti- 
nental treasury, and establish a more efficient 
method of collecting the taxes. He requested to 
have a conference with a committee of both Houses 
of the Legislature, in order to urge a revisal of the 
tax laws. As the result of his eiibrts, the State 
Senate adopted a series of resolutions to the effect, 
that " the present system of the States exposes the 
cause to a precarious issue ; that the radical source 
of most of the embarrassments is the want of suffi- 
cient power in Congress to effectuate that ready 
and perfect co-operation of the different States on 
which their immediate safety and future happiness 
depend ; that experience has demonstrated the con- 
federation to be defective in several essential points, 
particularly in not vesting the federal government 
either with a power of providing revenue for itself, 
or with ascertained and productive funds, secured 
by a sanction so solemn and general as would in- 
spire the fullest confidence in] them and make 
them a substantial basis of credit; and that it is 
essential to the common welfare that there should 
be, as soon as possible, a conference of the w^hole 
States on the subject." 

These resolutions were drawn up by IL^railton, 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 1*2 1 

and were unanimously passed by the Legislature of 
Kew York, July 22d, 1782. At his suggestion a 
joint committee of both Houses were appointed to 
report at the next session a system for establishing 
such fund within the State as were best suited to 
answer its purposes, and those of the United States ; 
and for the more eifectual collection of taxes. 

On the same day of the passage of these resolu- 
tions, the Legislature of New York elected Hamil- 
ton a representative in Congress. He immediately 
informed Mr. Robert Morris of the progress which 
had been made in the functions of his office, and 
resigned it, in consequence of his election to the 
National Legislature. After the adjournment of 
the State Legislature, Mr. Hamilton returned to 
Albany, and was after examination admitted to the 
bar. He then arranged his affairs so as to enable 
him to assume the high and responsible duties 
which would devolve upon him, as a representative 
of one of the leading States in the Union in the 
federal Congress. And all this brilliant array of 
literary, military, and professional triumphs, had 
been won by the orphan boy of the distant island 
of the Indian seas, at twenty-five years of age ! 
We question whether so rapid and so brilliant a 
career is presented by the history of any other 
statesman of any ^gQ or country. 
H 



122 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER VI. 

HAMILTON ELECTED A MEMBER OP CONGRESS — HIS ACTIVITY THERE — HIS 
FINANCIAL EXPEDIENTS — REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS — ASSISTS IN ARRANG- 
ING THE PRELIMINARIES OP PEACE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND 
GREAT BRITAIN — CLAIMS OP THE CONTINENTAL ARMY ON CONGRESS — 
HIS TIEWS ON TAXATION AND IMPORTS — SUPPORTS THE ESTABLISHMENT 
OP A MILITARY HOSPITAL — HIS LABORS AS CHAIRMAN OP THE MILI- 
TARY COMMITTEE — REVOLT AMONG THE PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS OF THE 
CONTINENTAL ARMY. 

We now enter upon that portion of the career 
of Hamilton when, for the first time, he moves in 
a sphere well adapted to his great abilities, and 
when he takes a distinguished part in the formation 
of the laws, constitution, and government of one of 
the greatest empii-es on the earth. "We see him then 
taking the lead while a mere youth, with masterly 
skill and power, among aged, experienced, and re- 
nowned statesmen ; and we find him at length in- 
corporating his own principles and ideas into the 
very heart of that master-piece of modern states- 
manship — the Federal Constitution; which will 
remain through all coming time a sublime monu- 
ment of political wisdom and sagacity. 

Hamilton took his first seat in Congress on the 
25th of November, 1782. Elias Boudiuot, of New 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 123 

CTersey, was elected president. The sessions were 
held in Philadelphia. Thirty members composed 
the body ; the most distinguished among whom 
were Clymer, "Witherspoon, Rutledge, Elsworth, 
Lee, Madison, and Sullivan. Of Hamilton's fitness 
for the post which he now occupied, some idea may 
be formed from the opinion of him expressed at 
this time, and in reference to his connection with 
Congress, by Washington. To General Sullivan, a 
delegate from New Hampshire, he wrote : " I can 
venture to advance, from a thorough knowledge 
of him, that there are few men to be found of his 
age who have a more general knowledge than he 
possesses ; and none whose soul is more firmly en- 
gaged in the cause, or who exceeds him in probity 
or in sterling virtue." 

On the 4th of December Hamilton made his first 
motion in Congress. It was for the appointment 
of a committee of conference with the Legislature 
of Pennsylvania, in reference to the settlement of 
her accounts with the United States, and the sus- 
pension of the interest due on certain classes of 
certificates. The then existing state of the national 
finances was evidently such as to render the pay- 
ment of these demands on Congress impossible 
from the national resources. There were but two 
courses which that body could adopt. One of these 



124 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

was to make some substantial provision for the fu- 
ture payment of her claims by some newly devised 
expedient ; or to permit Pennsylvania to withhold 
her own contribution to the federal government, 
and appropriate it to the liquidation of the claims 
of her own citizens on the confederation. In refer- 
ence to this subject, and in answer to the loud 
clamors and just demands of the army — of those 
hardy and gallant men who had fought the battles 
of the Eevolution, and stained its fields with their 
blood, Hamilton proposed, on December 6th, that 
the " Superintendent of Finance should represent 
to the States the indispensable necessity of their 
complying with the requisition for raising a sum 
equal to a year's interest of the domestic debt, and 
two millions for the current service, and to point 
out the embarrassments which resulted from appro- 
priations by the States of the moneys required by 
Congress; assuring them that they were determined 
to make the fullest justice to the public creditors 
an invariable object of their counsels and exer- 
tions." He also proposed the appointment of a 
deputation to Rhode Island, to urge the grant of 
the imports as a measure essential to the very safety 
and reputation of these States, and proposed even 
the draft of an ordinance for its collection. The 
deputation to lihode Island was appointed by Con- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 125 

gross; and Hamilton himself prepared the letter 
which Congress addressed to the governor of that 
State, dated December 11th, 1782. 

Other financial cares claimed the immediate atten- 
tion of Congress. One of these was the redemption 
of the old Continental bills which had been issued 
during the war, and which had especially flooded 
ISTew England. The southern States were opposed 
to the redemption of these bills. A motion was 
made to invite each State to redeem their quotas 
of the bills on principles of substantial justice. 
This proposition Avas lost; and Hamilton then 
moved that Congress redeem the notes "at the 
rate of one to forty" — the rate of depreciation es- 
tablished by Congress. Finally, the whole attempt 
to redeem these old bills was abandoned ; and they 
still remain to this day scattered over the land, 
worthless save as impressive mementos of the ex- 
pedients, the poverty, the patriotism, and the rude 
typography of the memorable period which tried 
men's souls ! 

The next topic which came up for consideration 
was the claims of the oflicers of the revolutionary 
army. Their memorial was referred by Congress 
to a committee of which Mr. Hamilton was chair- 
man. They reported on the 25th of January-, 1783; 
and their report discussed five points — the mcuus 
11* 



126 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of present paj-ment; a settlement of arrearages of 
pay and security for what was already due; a com- 
mutation of the half pay for an equivalent in gross ; 
and a settlement of the accounts of the deficiencies 
of rations and compensation, and a similar settle- 
ment in reference to clothing and compensation 
due in default of it. 

The establishment of a permanent national re- 
venue, a measure vitally essential to the future 
prosperity and security of the nation, now occupied 
the attention of Mr. Hamilton. He brought the 
subject in a legitimate way before Congress. The 
expedient which, after much deliberation, he pro- 
posed, was the valuation and appropriation of the 
public lands to that purpose. He suggested that 
when the valuation of these lands was finished, 
Congress should finally adjust the accounts of the 
United States with the States separately, agreeably 
to the standard thus made, making equitable abate- 
ments to such as have been more immediate suffer- 
ers by the war; and that in the mean time they 
would adhere to the proportions already established 
by Congress, in the temporary adjustment of their 
accounts with the federal government. 

At this period Hamilton proposed a resolution 
in Congress, which was honorable both to himself 
and to its subject. He moved and carried that 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 127 

"the commander-in-cliief be informed that Con- 
gress would be always happy to receive his senti- 
ments on the political and military affairs of these 
States, the utility of which they have on so many 
occasions experienced." 

Until this period the deliberations of the Ameri- 
can national legislature had always been conducted 
with closed doors. At an early stage of our coun- 
try's history, this precaution had been judicious and 
even necessary ; and it frequently kept important in- 
telligence from the possession of the enemy. After 
the termination of the war this advantage no longer 
existed. On the contrary, other preponderating 
disadvantages operated against the continuance of 
the usage. The deliberations of that body were 
rendered liable to constant misrepresentation. The 
timid viewed Congress as the theatre only for the 
conflict of hostile intrigues ; and the influence of the 
great deliberative assembly of the nation had on 
these accounts begun perceptibly to decline. Never- 
theless, the judicious exertions of Mr. Hamilton to 
change the prevalent custom at tliat time failed. 
The existing prejudices were found to be then in- 
surmountable. The delegate from Rhode Island 
remarked that "if the member from New York 
wished to display his eloquence, he might address 
the people from the balcony." Other observations 



128 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of a similar spirit were not wanting from several of 
tlie representatives from other States. Hamilton 
was compelled reluctantly to abandon a reform 
which subsequent experience has proved to have 
been most judicious. 

Mr. Hamilton took an important part in arranging 
the preliminaries of peace between the United 
States and England ; and in establishing that 
peace on terms the most favorable to this country. 
After the intelligence of the signature of the pre- 
liminary articles had been received, he himself 
prepared the instrument of final ratification. To his 
friend, Mr. Jay, the plenipotentiary of the United 
States to the Court of St. James, Mr. Hamilton 
wrote as follows : " Though I have not performed 
my promise of writing to you, which I made you 
when you left this country, yet I have not the less 
interested myself in your welfare and success. I 
have been witness with pleasure to every event 
which has had a tendency to advance you in the es- 
teem of your country, and I may assure you with 
sincerity that it is as high as you could wish. 

"The peace, which exceeds in the goodness of its 
terms, the expectations of the most sanguine, does 
the highest honor to those who made it. It is the 
more agreeable, as the time was come when think- 
ing men began to be seriously alarmed at the inter- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 129 

nal embarrassments and exliausted state of this 
country. 

" We have now happily concluded the great work 
of independence; but much remains to be done to 
reap the fruits of it. Our prospects are not flatter- 
ing. Every day proves the inefliciency of the pre- 
sent confederation ; yet the common danger being 
removed, we are receding instead of advancing in a 
disposition to amend its defects. The road to popu- 
larity in each State is, to inspire jealousies of the 
power of Congress ; though nothing can be more 
apparent than that they have no power, and that 
for the want of it the resources of the country, during 
the war, could not be drawn out, and we at this mo- 
ment experience all the mischief of a bankrupt 
and ruined credit. It is to be hoped that when 
prejudice and folly have seen themselves out of 
breath, we may return to reason, and correct our 
errors." 

Already at this early period the germ of that evil 
had taken root, which was calculated to weaken the 
power of the central government, and which has 
been one of the greatest obstacles with which the ad- 
vancement of this confederacy has had to contend. 
In reference to this subject, the following remarks 
of Hamilton are here not inappropriate : 

" Upon my first going into Congress I discovered 



ISO THE LIFE AND TIMES 

symptoms of a party too well disposed to subject 
the interests of tlie United States to the manage- 
ment of France. Though I felt in common with 
those who had participated in the Revolution, a lively 
sentiment of good-will toward a power whose co- 
operation, however it was and ought to have been 
dictated by its own interest, had been extremely 
useful to us, and had been aiforded in a liberal and 
handsome manner. Yet, tenacious of the real in- 
dependence of our country, and dreading the pre- 
ponderance of foreign influence as the natural dis- 
ease of popular government, I was struck with 
disgust at the appearance, in the very cradle of our 
republic, of a party actuated by an undue complai- 
sance to a foreign power, and I resolved at once to 
resist this bias in our affairs ; a resolution which has 
been the chief cause of the persecution I have en- 
dured in the subsequent stages of my political 
life."* 

The claims of the army and the officers had not 
yet been finally settled. The Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts passed a resolution declaring that justice 
had not been done in the passage of the grant of 
half pay, inasmuch as it was more than an adequate 
reward for their services, and inconsistent with that 

• See Life of Hiimiltou, by John C. Hamilton, Vol. H. p. 152. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 131 

equality which ought to subsist among citizens of 
free and republican States; and that it tended to 
exalt some citizens in wealth and grandeur to the 
injury and oppression of others. The army had not 
yet been disbanded ; and they adopted a resolution 
on the 15th of March, 1783, to the effect that they 
entertained the fullest confidence in the justice of 
Congress and their country, and were persuaded 
that they would not be discharged and dismissed, 
until their claims on the Federal government were 
settled. 

Congress appointed a committee to report on this 
important subject, of which Mr. Hamilton was 
nominated chairman. Before they reported, Hamil- 
ton addressed a communication to "Washington on 
the subject, desiring his advice. The great difiiculty 
was, that the powers which Congress then possessed 
under the Articles of Confederation of 1781, did not 
enable or permit them to do any thing more than 
recommend the provision of funds for this purpose 
to the respective States ; and it was already apparent 
that the States seemed to be jealous of the growing 
disposition in certain quarters to invest the Federal 
Legislature with an enlargement of their preroga- 
tives. A plan had been devised by Hamilton in- 
tended to obviate this difiiculty, by funding the 
public debt. 



132 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Hamilton was interested in behalf of the army. 
He had witnessed its prodigious toils and sufferings 
during the protracted struggle which had just ended. 
During its progress sixty-six battles had been fought 
by those heroes, whose survivors now demanded the 
payment of their stipulated wages. Hamilton was 
distressed at the evidences which were apparent, 
that the people were ungrateful to their deliverers, 
and were disposed to withhold the means necessary 
to liquidate these claims. He concludes his letter 
to Washington with these words: " I have an indif- 
ferent opinion of the honesty of this country, and 
ill-forebodings of its future system. Your excel- 
lency will perceive I have written with sensations of 
chagrin, and will make allowance for coloring, but 
the general picture is too true. God send us all 
more wisdom." 

In reply to this letter Washington remarks: "I 
read your private letter of the 25th with pain, and 
contemplated the picture it had drawn with aston- 
ishment and horror. But I will yet hope for the 
best. The idea of redress by force is too chimerical 
to have had a place in the imagination of any seri- 
ous mind in this army ; but there is no telling what 
unhappy disturbances may result from distress, and 
distrust of justice ; and as the fears and jealousies 
of the army are alive, I hope no resolution will be 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 133 

come to for disbanding or separating tlie lines, till 
the accounts are liquidated. The suspensions of the 
officers are afloat, notwithstanding the resolutions 
which have passed on both sides ; and any act which 
can be construed into an attempt to separate them 
before the accounts are settled will convey the most 
unfavorable ideas of the rectitude of Congress; 
whether well or ill founded matters not, the conse- 
quences wdll be the same." Washington then pro- 
ceeds to mention, "in strict confidence," a scheme 
which had been devised secretly to make the offi- 
cers of the army " puppets to establish continental 
funds." 

The situation of Mr. Hamilton between these con- 
flicting parties was difficult and unpleasant. In 
this crisis he determined to use his utmost efforts to 
induce Congress to comply with the claims of the 
army, and to prevail upon the States to vest in Con- 
gress the necessary enlargement of their power so 
to do, in order that the public faith, which he justly 
denominated the "corner stone of public safety," 
might be preserved unimpaired and unquestioned. 
In the end his labors were not without producing 
the desired result. 

In April, 1783, the question of the surrender of 

prisoners and the evacuation of the military posts 

came up for final settlement. A difficulty arose in 
12 



134 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Congress as to whetlier the treaty specifying these 
points meant the provisional and preliminary treaty 
which had been already concluded, and whether 
these measures should be carried out immediately 
after the adoption of that treaty; or whether the 
final and definite treaty which was yet to be con- 
summated was the one intended. Mr. Hamilton 
suggested the propriety of the latter construction ; 
inasmuch as he held it injudicious to make a total 
restoration of prisoners until they are willing to fix 
the precise period of their departure from the 
country.* 

Hamilton was chairman of the committee on 
peace arrangements. In a letter to Mr. Robert 
Morris, the Superintendent of Finance, he proposed 
the establishment of a National Marine, in accord- 
ance with the ideas which he had advanced at large 
in the Continentalist ; inasmuch as to a commer- 
cial people maritime power must be a primary object 
of attention, and because a navy cannot be created 
or maintained without ample resources. He also 
suggested more directly and minutely the establish- 
ment of a national coinage. His views on the lat- 
ter subject were original and profound ; and though 
he had but recently devoted some attention to the 

• See the Madison Debates. I, pp. 443, 444. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 135 

perusal of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and 
had in consequence derived no small advantage from 
that able work, yet his views were more enlarged 
than his, and much better adapted to the peculiar 
situation and wants of the country as it then existed. 
He prepared and submitted to Congress a catalogue 
of the proper articles for taxation. In addition to 
the regular impost, he proposed a graduated house 
tax, a land tax, and various other specific taxes. 
Ilis arrangement of these items was such that the 
easiest taxes fell upon articles of luxury, and the 
lightest on articles of necessity. He held the doc- 
trine that the genius of liberty reprobates every 
thing in taxation, which is arbitrary, discretionary, 
and uncertain. It requires that every man should 
know exactly how much, by the operation of a re- 
gular and impartial rule, the State demands of his 
profits and his substance for the support of the 
great ends of government. 

Hamilton further proposed, that the States should 
confer on the federal government the power of 
levying, for the use of the United States, specific 
duties on certain enumerated imported articles, and 
a duty of five per cent, ad valorem upon all other 
goods, excepting arras, ammunition, clothing, and 
articles imported for the use of the United States. 
He proposed that these duties should be applied to 



136 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the discharge only of the interest or principal of 
the debts contracted for the support of the war, 
and to be continued for twenty-five years. The 
collectors were to be appointed by the States, but 
were to be amenable to Congress alone. If no 
State made an appointment of collectors within a 
certain time, then Congress should themselves ap- 
point. He suggested such an amendment to the 
Articles of Confederation, as would provide that all 
public charges and expenses should be defrayed 
out of a commoa treasury, to be supplied by the 
States, in proportion to the number of inhabitants 
of every age, sex, and condition, excepting Indians 
not paying taxes in each State, according to the 
laws of each State. These resolutions, when ac- 
ceded to by every State, were to form an irrevoca- 
ble and independent compact, without the concur- 
rence of all the States, or a majority of the States 
represented in Congress. He also proposed that 
wool-cards, cotton-cards, and the wire for making 
them, should be exempt from taxation, in order 
the more effectually to promote domestic industry. 
Congress eventually adopted his suggestions, Mas- 
sachusetts and Rhode Island alone objecting. 

At this period Mr. Morris, the Superiutendent 
of Finances, threatened to resign his office. The 
possibility of such an event afflicted Hamilton, who 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 137 

well knew the great value of that officer's services 
to the country. After the passage of the revenue 
bill, a committee was appointed of whom Hamil- 
ton was one, to confer with him on the subject. 
The reasons which Mr. Morris gave for his intended 
course were the continued refusal of Congress to 
make an effectual provision to liquidate the public 
debts, and the probability which impended there- 
from, that his administration would end in dis- 
grace ; and that the overthrow of the national credit 
and the ruin of his private fortune would ensue, 
Congress finally passed a resolution, after the re- 
port of the committee had been received, to the 
effect that the public service required that Mr. Mor- 
ris should remain in office until the reduction of 
the army, and the completion of the financial ar- 
rangements connected with it. 

Important labors now occupied the attention of 
Hamilton as chairman of the military committee. 
On May Ist, 1783, he submitted a report, propos- 
ing the reduction of the corps of invalids. It pro- 
vided full pay for life to all those officers who were 
seriously disabled. It proposed the establishment 
of a hospital for all the non-commissioned officers 
and soldiers who were proper inmates for it, to be 
there supported for life, providing them also with 
rations and clothing. In order more efix^ctually to 
12* 



138 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

accomplish these desirable results, Hamilton of 
fered a resolution which contained the following 
considerations : — It asserted "the indispensable ne- 
cessity of making the army, when reduced, an ad- 
vance of pay before they leave the field; and as 
there are many other engagements for which the 
public faith is pledged, that the States be called 
upon, in the most solemn manner, to make every 
effort for the collection of taxes ; and that Congress 
confidently rely, for an immediate and efficacious 
attention to the present requisition, upon the dis- 
position of their constituents, not only to do justice 
to those brave men who have suffered and sacri- 
ficed so much in the cause of their country, and 
whose distresses must be extreme, should they be 
sent from the field without a payment of a part of 
their well-earned dues ; but also to enable Congress 
to maintain the faith and reputation of the United 
States, both which are seriously concerned in re- 
lieving the necessities of a meritorious army and 
fulfilling the public stipulations. That the Super- 
intendent of Finance be directed to make the ne- 
cessary arrangements for carrying the views of Con- 
gress in execution ; and that he be assured of their 
firm support towards fulfilling the engagements he 
has already taken or may take on the public ac- 
count during his continuance in ofiice; and that a 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 139 

further application should be made to the king of 
France of an additional loan of three millions of 
livres." 

Anxious that no effort should be omitted for the 
fulfilment of the pledges given by Congress to ap- 
portion to the troops specific quantities of land, he 
prepared a resolution "that a committee should be 
appointed to consider of the best manner of carrying 
into execution the engagements of the United 
States for certain allowances of land to the army at 
the conclusion of the war." This subject was re- 
ferred to a committee for consideration. After its 
deliberations were concluded, Hamilton drew up a 
report, which was adopted. It provided that until 
the lands granted by Congress should be located 
and surveyed, certificates should be given to the 
officers and soldiers as evidences of their claims, 
and to the legal representatives of those who had 
fallen during the war. Congress at length began 
to entertain the same apprehensions w'hich afflicted 
Washington; and a resolution was offered to dis- 
charge that part of the army which had been en- 
listed for service during the war. Hamilton pro- 
posed as a substitute, that the commander-in-chief 
be instructed to grant furloughs to those soldiers 
who had enlisted for the war, with an assurance of 
tbeir permanent discharge immediately after the 



140 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

conclusion of the definitive treaty, and that they 
should then be conducted to their homes in a man- 
ner most convenient to themselves, and that they 
should be allowed to retain their arms which, 
though the property of the State, had become en- 
deared to them as mementos of their past services. 

The attention of this great statesman — whose 
capacious and vigilant mind seemed to grasp intui- 
tively all the multiform interests and wants of the 
nation then struggling into political existence, and 
who, at this early age of twenty-six, displayed a 
profundity and universality of mind unequalled 
in the whole history of statesmen — was turne<.l 
to the removal of all the obstacles which still 
impeded the execution of the treaty with Eng- 
land; and to measures intended to secure the fron- 
tiers of the United States. And in order to pre- 
vent any infractions of the treaty by the United 
States, he introduced a resolution requiring the re- 
moval of all obstructions to the recovery of debts, 
the restitution of all confiscated property on re- 
ceiving an equivalent, and the future disconti- 
nuance of all confiscations, as being in harmony 
with that spirit of moderation and liberality which 
ought ever to characterize the deliberations and 
measures of a free and enlightened people. 

In the performance of his duties as chairman of the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 141 

military committee, Hamilton undertook to remedy 
the existing evils in the Quartermaster General's 
department. He saw and felt the difficulties which 
attended the proper establishment of military sup- 
plies. He proposed that that officer should be in- 
trusted with the appointment of all the sub-officers 
of that department; that he should give them their 
designations; that he should apportion their pay; 
and that he should specify the means of transpor- 
tation to be allowed to each rank in the army, and 
their respective amount of forage and subsistence. 

As chairman of the committee on peace arrange- 
ments, he prepared a report in reference to the de- 
partment of foreign affairs. It provided that the 
secretary of that department should occupy the 
position of chief of the diplomatic corps. It as- 
serted that it was his duty to lay before Congress 
such plans for conducting the political and commer- 
cial intercourse of the United States with foreign 
powers as might appear to him to be best adapted 
to promote their interests. It allowed him the 
same salary as was provided for a minister to a 
foreign court; and permitted him to have an official 
secretary to be nominated by himself, who was to 
receive the same compensation as the secretary of 
an embassy. The report also specified the salary 
of each minister, and declared him to be possessed 



142 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of consular powers in the country in whicli lie re- 
sided, and as having full control over all vice-con- 
suls and commercial agents. Vice-consuls were to 
be appointed without salaries, and to be permitted 
to engage in trade. 

The ideas of Mr. Hamilton in reference to a peace 
establishment, may be inferred from the following 
provisions contained in his report on that subject. 
He recommended an armament in each State, con- 
sisting of four regiments of infantry' and one of artil- 
lery, with two additional battalions, to be incorpo- 
rated in a corps of engineers, and a regiment of 
dragoons. He proposed that the States should 
intrust to Congress the right to appoint the regi- 
mental officers; and he suggested that no officer 
should consider it a violation of his rights, if any 
other officer, who has had an opportunity to dis- 
tinguish himself, and has done so, should receive 
an extra promotion on that account. He recom- 
mended the appointment of an agent of marine, to 
prepare the way for the future erection of maritime 
fortifications ; to obtain information in reference to 
the establishment of ports, and the formation of a 
navy. He suggested the building of arsenals, and 
the manufacture of such articles as were necessary 
for military operations, sufficient to equip ninety thou- 
sand men. He named Springfield, West Point, 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 143 

and Camden, as suitable places of deposit. The 
details of a general hospital for invalid soldiers 
were also given. He proposed the appointment 
of a military board to revise the regulations and 
digest a general ordinance for service of the troops 
of the United States, and another for the service of 
the militia. 

The deliberations of Congress were at this crisis 
interrupted by an unexpected occurrence, which, 
at that critical period of our national history might 
have led to the most serious results. 

The old levies of the Continental army had 
quietly disbanded and returned home, satisfied with 
the poor and inadequate provision which Congress 
had made for the payment of the sums which were 
due them at the termination of the war. The new 
levies, many of whom had never seen a battle, were 
neither so patriotic nor so reasonable. A portion 
of these were stationed in the barracks at Phila- 
delphia and Lancaster. They refused to accept 
their discharges, without immediate payment. They 
presented a petition to Congress stating that fact. 
Congress took no notice of it. The insurgents from 
Lancaster marched to Philadelphia, and great fears 
were entertained that the bank would be attacked, 
and that plunder and rapine would ensue. Con- 
gress removed to Princeton, and ordered General 



144 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

St. Clair to inform the malecontents that if tlicy re- 
turned to Lancaster, their demands would be com- 
plied with. They refused to do so. An attempt 
was made to induce the executive of Pennsylvania 
to call out the militia to preserve the public peace. 
He declined. Congress then ordered General Howe 
to march to Philadelphia to disarm the insurgents, 
and to bring their leaders to trial. These decisive 
measures were found to be effectual ; and the rebel- 
lion was quickly quelled. Hamilton w^as the chair- 
man of the committee which waited on the execu- 
tive of Pennsylvania ; and to his suggestions the final 
establishment of tranquillity and order was in a great 
measure attributable. This labor concluded his 
public services, during the eight months of his con- 
nection with this important session of Congress. 

Before the adjourment of this Congress Hamil- 
ton had prepared a series of resolutions, in view of 
the existing defects of the Confederation, by which 
Congress invited the attention of the States to the 
necessity of a revisal and amendment of it. These 
resolutions earnestly recommended to the several 
States to appoint a convention, with full powers to 
revise the Confederation, and to adopt and propose 
such alterations as to them should seem necessary, 
to be finally approved or rejected by the States re- 
spectively ; and that a committee be appointed to 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 145 

prepare an address on tlie subject. But after ma- 
ture consultation with his friends in Congress, he 
came to the conclusion that the movement was 
premature, and that the people and their represen- 
tatives were not yet prepared for so important and 
vital a proposition. Yet this suggestion of Hamilton 
became eventually the initiatory idea of that mag- 
nificent fabric of a general government, whose 
splendid and harmonious proportions now adorn 
the land of the Revolution; which now embraces 
within its capacious arms the inhabitants of a vast 
continent, and is the nursing mother to the freest 
and most prosperous government and people on the 
globe ! 

13 



14G THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER VII. 

HAMILTON RETURNS 70 ALBANY — RESUMES THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW — 
PARTICULARS RESPECTING HIS FIRST CASE — HIS FORENSIC LEARNING 
AND ELOQUENCE — HIS PUBLICATION OF " PHOCION" — ITS EFFECTS — 
HE DRAFTS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BANK OF NEW YORK — HAMIL- 
TON'S VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT OF AMERICAN SLAVERY — HIS CONDUCT 
IN REFERENCE TO A SLAVE — LAFAYETTE's OPINIONS ON THE SAME 
SUBJECT. 

After the adjournment of Congress Hamilton 
retired, in October, 1783, to his family at Albany. 
His career in the National Legislature had covered 
him with glor3\ His abilities had there outshone 
all his associates, both as an orator, as a statesman, 
as a financier, as a writer, and as a publicist. He 
may without the least exaggeration be termed a 
prodigy ; especially when his career is viewed with 
reference to his youthful age, and to the small pro- 
portion of preliminary instruction which he had 
enjoyed. At the age of twenty-six he had been 
the leading spirit, the commanding genius, of the 
great American Continental Congress! And this 
rare and remarkable pre-eminence had been willingly 
and not grudgingly assigned him by the aged fa- 
thers of the Republic, who saw with pride and 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 147 

without envy the splendid superiority of their 
youthful associate, and were anxious to appropriate 
them to the service of their common country. He 
had long possessed the full confidence of "Washing- 
ton. He had now secured the admiration and es- 
teem of both the nation and of their chosen repre- 
sentatives. 

It was the purpose of Hamilton on returning to 
Albany, to retire from the cares of political life, 
and devote himself entirely to the profession which 
he had chosen. From Albany he intended, imme- 
diately after the evacuation of New York by the 
British, to remove thither. He did so in November, 
1783. Before leaving Philadelphia, he had written 
to his wife with his usual ardor and affection : " I 
give you joy of the happy conclusion of this im- 
portant work in which your country has been en- 
gaged. Now, in a very short time, I hope we shall 
be happily settled in New York. My love to your 
father. Kiss my boy a thousand times. A thou- 
sand loves to yourself." Such were the domestic 
feelings of the great master intellect of the revolu- 
tionary era of American history ! 

It may readily be supposed that the national fame 
which Hamilton had already acquired, together with 
his own indomitable industry and his transcendent 
abilities, would soon procure for him a large and 



148 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

lucrative practice in the legal profession. Such was 
the fact. During five years he devoted himself in a 
very considerable degree to his professional duties, 
and he very soon acquired a high fame as an advo- 
cate. The richness of his mind prevented him from 
becoming a mere case-lawyer. He did not convert 
his memory into a lumbering depository of prece- 
dents. Yet he was familiar with the principles of 
the science ; and this knowledge, together with his 
rare eloquence, his vigorous logic, his persuasive 
and attractive manner, rendered him the most 
efficient and popular advocate at the New York 
bar, with the exception of Aaron Burr alone. That 
great, bad man, with the candor which usually at- 
tends true genius, acknowledged the superior talents 
and eloquence of his rival ; and frequently spoke of 
him as a man of fertile imagination and a powerful 
declaimer.* 

The very first case in which Hamilton was em- 
ployed was one of more than ordinary interest. 
It was tried in the Mayor's Court of New York. 
The suit was brought to recover the rents, issues, 
and profits of property which was held by the 
defendant under an order of Sir Henry Clinton ; 
and was founded on what was known as the Tres 

• See Memou'S of Aaron Burr, by M. L. Davis, Vol. II. p. 22. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 149 

pass Act. This act allowed suits to be brought by 
persons who had deserted their residences in conse- 
quence of the invasion of the British, against those 
■who had occupied them during the war; and took 
away the plea, in defense of that occupancy, that 
they were authorized by a military order. The de- 
fense contended that the present case was not with- 
in the statute ; that the suit was barred by the laws 
of nations ; and that the recent treaty extinguished 
the right of action given by the statute. 

This suit possessed great interest inasmuch as its 
decision, immediate or final, would decide the fate 
of other property to an immense amount. It was con- 
tended that the national faith and honor were in- 
volved in the issue. It would determine whether 
the State tribunals would recognize the laws of 
nations and of the confederacy as the rule of their 
decisions, when these came in conflict with a mere 
local statute. The parties to the present cause were, 
as plaintiff, a fugitive and exile, a poor American 
widow, whose whole worldly wealth was involved 
in the issue ; and a defendant, a rich English mer- 
chant, and a partisan of the British king. The 
cause was tried while party spirit still ran high, in a 
court-room which itself bore evidences of the recent 
occupancy of a brutal and savage foreign soldiery. 
The attorney -general appeared for the plaintifl^", and 
13* 



150 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

in behalf of the State authorit}'. Mr. Hamilton 
had been retained by the aristocratic and detested 
foreigner. 

Never did an advocate defend a more unpopular 
cause. Yet never did an advocate display more 
eloquence, more ingenuity, more ability. Hamilton 
began by asserting that the position of the respec- 
tive parties to the suit, whether rich or poor, was an 
indifferent inquiry. He looked only at the abstract 
justice of the case. He dwelt eloquently upon the 
importance of the principle at issue. He declared 
that the decision would affect the reputation of the 
young Republic in the distant nations of Europe, 
who had just learned with surprise and perhaps with 
envy, of the establishment of the liberties and the 
vindication of the glory of the American name. It 
would decide the future complexion of our jurispru- 
dence. It was the first case of the kind, and would 
form the precedent of hundreds to come, which 
would hereafter determine the destination of mil- 
lions of property. 

He then asserted that the laws of nations, and the 
laws of war, form part of and were recognized by 
the Common Law of England. He stated the two 
great divisions of the laws of nations, the internal, 
binding on the consciences of nations ; the external, 
controlled by positive enactments; the former in- 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 151 

voluntary, the second voluntary and arbitrary. He 
proceeded to define the proper method of the con- 
struction of statutes, and applied the principle con- 
tended for to that case. He went into an examina- 
tion of the jurisdiction of the court; and explained 
the distinctions which were to be allowed between a 
citizen and a British subject in the United States, 
who claimed the protection of international law. 
He concluded with a bold exposure of the fraud and 
injustice of the plaintilF's demand, and with an 
effective appeal to preserve the faith and honor of 
the nation, thus pledged in the articles of peace to 
those who held titles to property obtained during 
the foreign occupancy of the city. He concluded 
not unfitly with Seneca's well known maxim : '■'■Fides 
sanctificissimum humani pectores honum est." 

The logic and eloquence of Hamilton won the day, 
notwithstanding that a powerful current of popular 
prejudice ran against his cause. A decision was 
entered in favor of the defendant. The court also 
ruled that " our Union is known and legalized in 
our Constitution, and adopted as a fundamental 
law in the first act of our legislature. The federal 
compact has vested Congress with full and exclusive 
powers to make peace and war. This treaty they 
have made and ratified, and rendered its obligation 
perpetual; and we are clearly of opinion that no 



152 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

State in this Union can alter or abridge, in a single 
point, the Federal Articles or the Treaty." 

Although the learning and ability of the defen- 
dant's advocate could convince the court, it could 
not overpower the force of popular prejudice. A 
town meeting was called, which, while compliment- 
ing Hamilton for the ability displayed by him in 
the conduct of the cause, proceeded to stigmatize the 
decision of the court as having a tendency to curtail 
the liberties of the people ; asserting that if their in- 
dependence was worth fighting for to obtain, it was 
worth contending for to perpetuate. The legisla- 
ture were memorialized on the subject; and that 
subservient body decreed that the court's decision 
was subversive of all law and order, and that here- 
after such men only should be appointed as judges 
who would administer the laws fearlessly, intelli- 
gently, and justly. 

The result of this his first cause was to elevate 
Hamilton very greatly in public estimation as an ad- 
vocate. The more wealthy portions of the citizens 
regarded his course with great favor; and very soon 
their approval took substantial forms of patronage, 
by intrusting to his care their commercial interests, 
when litigated in courts of justice. 

The excitement produced by the trial of this im- 
portant case long continued to agitate the commu- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 153 

inty. Hamilton thought it advisable to publish a 
labored argument on the principles involved in the 
case ; and it appeared under the title of "Phocion." 
This production, written with his usual ability, con- 
tains an earnest appeal to the friends of liberty, and 
to the true Whigs, on the enormity of recent laws 
passed by men who were bent on mischief, who 
were practising on the passions of the people, and 
who were propagating the most inflammatory and 
pernicious doctrines. This production appeared in 
1784, when the author was twenty-seven years of 
age.* It was eagerly read throughout the whole 
country, and was republished in London. It drew 
forth many an&Avers. One alone was worthy of 
notice ; and it was signed "Mentor." To this Hamil- 
ton rejoined in a production entitled: "Phocion's 
Second Letter, containing Remarks on Mentor's 
Reply." 

An idea of the style and spirit of this celebrated 
production may be formed from the following ex- 
tract. The clearness, force and beauty of his com- 
position will strike every appreciative reader. 

" The body of the people of this State are too 
firmly attached to the democracy, to permit the 
principles of a small number to give a different tone 

* See Works of Alexander Hamilton, edited by John C. Hamilton, 
Vol. II. p. 400. 



154 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

to that spirit. The present law of inheritance, making 
an equal division among the children of the parents' 
property, will soon melt down those great estates, 
which, if they continued, might favor the power of 
the few. The number of the disafiected, who are 
80 from speculative notions of government, is small. 
The great majority of those who took part against 
us, did it from accident, from the dread of the 
British power, and from the influence of others to 
whom they had been accustomed to look up. Most 
of the men who had that kind of influence are 
already gone. The residue and their adherents 
must be carried along by the torrent, and with very 
few exceptions, if the government is mild and just, 
will soon come to view it with approbation and 
attachment. There is a bigotry in politics as well 
as in religion, equally pernicious to both. The 
zealots of either description are ignorant of the ad- 
vantage of a spirit of toleration. It is remarkable, 
though not extraordinary, that those characters, 
throughout the States, who have been principally 
instrumental in the Eevolution, are the most opposed 
to persecuting measures. Were it proper, I might 
trace the truth of this remark, from that character 
which has been the first in conspicuousness, through 
the several gradations of those, with very few ex- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. l55 

cpptions, wlio either in the civil or military line 
have borne a distinguished part." 

He concludes as follows : -** 

" Those who are at present intrasted with power 
in all these infant republics, hold the most sacred 
deposit that ever was confided to human hands. It 
is with governments as with individuals, first im- 
pressions and early habits give a lasting bias to the 
temper and character. Our governments hitherto 
have no habits. How important to the happiness, 
not of America alone, but of mankind, that they 
should acquire good ones ! If we set out with jus- 
tice, moderation, liberality, and a scrupulous regard 
to the constitution, the government will acquire a 
spirit and tone productive of permanent blessings 
to the community. If, on the contrary, the public 
councils are guided by humor, passion, and preju- 
dice — if, from resentment to individuals or a dread 
of partial inconveniences, the constitution is slighted 
or explained away upon every frivolous pretext — the 
future spirit of government will be feeble, distracted, 
and arbitrary. The rights of the subject will be the 
sport of every vicissitude. There will be no set- 
tled rule of conduct, but every thing will fluctuate 
with the alternate prevalency of contending fac- 
tions. 

" The world has its eye upon America. The no- 



156 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

ble struggle we have made in the cause of liberty, 
has occasioned a kind of revolution in human senti- 
ment. The influence of our example has penetrated 
the gloomy regions of despotism, and has pointed 
the way to inquiries which may shake it to its deep- 
est foundations. Men begin to ask every where, 
' Who is this tyrant, that dares to built his greatness 
on our misery and degradation ? What commis- 
sion has he to sacrifice millions to the wanton appe- 
tites of himself and the few minions that surround 
his throne V 

" To ripen inquiry into action, it remains for us to 
justify the Revolution by its fruits. If the conse- 
quences prove that we have really asserted the cause 
of human happiness, what may not be expected 
from so illustrious an example ? In a greater or less 
degree, the world will bless and imitate. 

"But if experience, in this instance, verifies the 
lesson long taught by the enemies of liberty — that 
the bulk of mankind are not fit to govern them- 
selves — that they must have a master, and were only 
made for the rein and the spur — we shall then see 
the final triumph of despotism over liberty. The 
advocates of the latter must acknowledge it to be an 
ignis fatuus and abandon the pursuit. With the 
greatest advantages for promoting it that ever a 
people had, we shall have betrayed the cause of human 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 157 

nature! Let those in whose hands it is placed, 
pause for a moment, and contemplate with an eye 
of reverence the vast trust committed to them. Let 
them retire into their own bosoms and examine the 
motives which there prevail. Let them ask them- 
selves this solemn question — Is the sacrifice of a 
few mistaken or criminal individuals an object 
worthy of the shifts to which we are reduced to 
evade the constitution and our national engage- 
ments ? Then let them review the arguments that 
have been offered with dispassionate candor, and if 
they even doubt the propriety of the measures they 
may be about to adopt, let them remember that in a 
doubtful case the constitution ought never to be 
hazarded without extreme necessity." 

So effectively did " Phociou" tell on the feelings 
and interests of the opponents of Hamilton, that the 
most furious animosity was aroused against him. 
An association of these men formed themselves into 
a club, and at one of their secret meetings they re- 
solved that Hamilton should be challenged, and 
that in case the first challenger should fall, the 
whole club would challenge him in succession, 
should it be necessary, in order to compass his 
death. But one member opposed this infamous 
proposition ; and that member was " Mentor." The 
individual who had assumed this pseudonym was 
14 



158 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

named Isaac Ledgard, and lie at once bad the honor 
and magnanimity to declare : " This, gentlemen, 
cannot be. What ? You write what you please ; and 
because you cannot refute what he writes in reply, 
you form a combination to take his life." The pro- 
position was at length abandoned. Some time after- 
ward Hamilton, who had heard of this conspiracy 
and its defeat, dined in company with Ledgard. 
Hearing him addressed as "Mentor," Hamilton im- 
mediately arose and taking him by the hand said : 
"Then you, my dear sir, are the friend who saved 
my life," Ledgard replied: "That, you know, is 
what you did for me." 

Although Hamilton was at this period deeply en- 
gaged in his professional pursuits, he found time to 
direct his attention to the financial interests of his 
own State. The operation of the Bank of ITorth 
America having given much dissatisfaction even to 
its friends, the establishment of a Bank of New 
York was proposed, and its plan submitted to the 
examination of Hamilton. While this enterprise was 
under consideration, the plan of a Land Bank was 
devised by Chancellor Livingston, and a petition was 
offered to the legislature for a charter. This was a 
dangerous and objectionable scheme, but one which 
seemed to obtain much favor with the people. 
They rashly supposed that it would be a veritable 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 159 

"philosopher's stone," and turn rocks, earth, and 
trees into gold. 

The constitution of the Bank of New York which 
Hamilton drew up was adopted ; half a million of 
dollars w^ere subscribed at a single meeting; and 
he was chosen one of its directors, and ap- 
pointed chairman of the committee to prepare its 
by-laws. 

At that early period of the history of the Ame- 
rican Confederacy, the subject of negro slavery 
had not attracted a large degree of attention, or 
possessed a vital interest. A single instance only 
is recorded in the life of Hamilton, in which he 
came personally and directly in contact with the 
subject. An association was formed in 1784, in 
New York, opposed to the existence of slavery in 
that State, and designed to accomplish its gradual 
and legal removal. Lafayette, still the personal and 
intimate friend of Hamilton, alluded in one of his 
letters to this subject: "I find in one of your Ga- 
zettes an association against the slavery of negroes, 
which seems to be worded in such a way as to give 
no offense to the moderate men in the southern 
States. As I have ever been partial to my brethren 
of that color, I wish, if you are in the society, you 
would move in your own name for my being ad- 
mitted on the list." This association was a branch 



160 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of a similar one already established in Philadel- 
phia. John Jay was its- president. Hamilton was 
one of its leading members, and was chairman of 
a committee appointed to devise ways and means 
to accomplish the object of the society. 

In performance of his duty as chairman of this 
committee he proposed a resolution in the society 
to the effect, that every member of it should manu- 
mit his own slaves. This resolution was warmly de- 
bated and then postponed. He himself never owned 
a slave, and consequently had none to manumit; but 
having been informed that a domestic whom he 
had hired was about to be sold by her master, he 
purchased her freedom for her. He thus practically 
obeyed the injunction contained in the resolution 
which he had proposed to the society ; but which 
few of the members were willing to imitate or exe- 
cute. Disgusted with their inconsistency and self- 
ishness, he afterward discontinued his attendance 
on their meetings; although his own sentiments 
on this grave question never were known to have 
undergone any alteration. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 161 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOCIETY OP THE CINCINNATI — ITS CONSTITUTION 
AND PURPOSES — POPULAR PREJUDICE AGAINST IT — JEFFERSON'S OPI- 
NIONS IN REFERENCE TO IT — THE CONVENTION AT ANNAPOLIS — HAMIL- 
TON'S ACTIVITY AND INFLUENCE IN THAT BODY — IS ELECTED A MEM- 
BER OF THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE — HIS LABORS THERE — IS THE 
MEANS OF ESTABLISHING THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. 

The year 1786 still finds the illustrious, and 
even yet youthful, subject of this memoir actively 
devoted to his professional duties in New York. 
Nevertheless he took a prominent share in many 
movements which concerned the honor and pros- 
perity of the country. One of these was with refe- 
rence to the celebrated society of the Cincinnati. 

This association had been formed immediately 
after the conclusion of the revolutionary war. Its 
members were composed of the officers of the army, 
and it was established at the encampment on the 
Hudson. Its avowed and only object was to aid in 
preserving the liberties which its members had aided 
so effectually to obtain ; and more especially to pro- 
mote national union, and render permanent the 
mutual affection of the officers by acts of brotherly 
courtesy and beneficence. It is enough to say in 
14* 



162 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

defense of this society, that George Washington 
was president-general. It had separate branches, 
composed of the officers who resided in each State, 
connected with and subordinate to the general so- 
ciety. One of the peculiar features of the society 
was that its members were composed, not only of 
the officers then living, of all grades, but that the 
succession of membership should continue to their 
eldest male posterity. 

There was evidently nothing dangerous or anti- 
republican in the principles and purposes of this 
organization. Its chief aim was to keep alive the 
memory of those stirring times, and of those great 
toils and labors, in which its members had partici- 
pated. It was natural that, after seven years of as- 
sociation together in such scenes as those which cha- 
racterized the progress of the revolutionary struggle, 
its actors should not wish to let their recollection and 
their freshness perish ; but rather to cherish them 
in full and cheerful remembrance, as long as was 
compatible with the inevitable mutability of all 
human affiiirs. 

Singular as it may now appear, this society be- 
came the object, in the year 1786, of violent popu- 
lar prejudices and abuse. It was asserted that the 
society was intended to create a race of hereditary 
patricians, to invade and endanger the liberties of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 163 

the country ; and that it was repugnant to the ge- 
nius of free institutions. 

Nor was this opposition confined to the vulgar 
and the obscure. Many persons joined in the cla- 
mor, who, having only been engaged in the civil 
service, were jealous of every thing with which 
they were not identified. Mr. Jefferson advised 
the Cincinnati that they would do better and wiser 
to melt down their eagles. Mr. Adams denounced 
the association as an inroad on the first principles 
of equality, and as an institution intended to sow the 
seeds of vanity, ambition, corruption, discord and 
sedition among the community. 

A general meeting of the society was at length 
called, in consequence of the popular outcry. 
Washington presided over its deliberations. A mo- 
tion was made to abolish the hereditary provision 
in the constitution of the society. The State so- 
ciety of New York also met on July 4th, 1786. 
Before this body Hamilton delivered an oration on 
the subject; and as chairman of a committee he 
presented a report, in which his views of the pro- 
posed change are embodied. He strongly opposed 
the abolition of the hereditary provision, as being 
necessary to the perpetuation of the society, and 
as being harmless in itself. At the same time, how- 
ever, he recommends several alterations in the con- 



164 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

stitution of minor importance. He suggested that 
there should be a distinction established between 
honorary and regular members. His suggestions 
were eventually adopted ; and the progress of time 
has long since clearly evinced not only the total 
absurdity of the outcry which was made against 
the Cincinnati at that period, but also the harm- 
lessness, the propriety, and the excellence of the 
institution in every imaginable respect. It remains 
to this day one of the purest, noblest, and most ho- 
norable mementos of the most glorious era of Ame- 
rican history. Her medals still bear upon them, 
not unfitly, the appropriate maxim : Omnia reliquit 
servare rempuhlicam ; and they still proclaim the pa- 
triotfc principle and hope, in reference to the liber- 
ties which its members themselves had purchased : 
Esto perpetua. 

An invidious mind might detect a spark of pride 
in this sentiment, but a liberal one can perceive 
nothing except the most exalted patriotism ! 

The pride of station, and the ostentation of rank 
peculiar to royal governments, are not only neces- 
sary to the safety of the king, but indispensable to 
the pomp and glitter of a court ; hence they are as 
foreign to the simplicity of a republic, and to the 
virtuous habits of a free people, as pure republican 
principles would be inconsistent with, as well as 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 165 

destructive of, royal power and regal magnifi- 
cence. 

Happily for the fame of Hamilton the project 
for the establishment of the society of the Cin- 
cinnati did not originate with him. "This idea, 
(says Marshall) was suggested by General Knox, 
and matured in a meeting composed of the gene- 
rals, and of deputies from the regiments, at which 
Major-General le Baron Steuben presided. An 
agreement was then entered into, by which the offi- 
cers were to constitute themselves into one society 
of friends, to endure as long as they should endure.^ 
or any of their eldest male posterity; and in fai- 
lure thereof, any collateral branches who might be 
judged worthy of becoming its supporters and 
members were to be admitted into it. To mark 
their veneration for that celebrated Roman, between 
whose situation and their own, they found some 
similitude, they were to be denominated the "So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati." Individuals of the re- 
spective States, distinguished for their patriotism 
and abilities, might be admitted as honorary mem- 
bers for life, provided their numbers should at no 
time exceed a ratio of one to four. 

" The society was to be designated by A medal of 
GOLD, representing the American eagle, bearing on 
its breast the devices of the order, which was to be 
/uspended by a deep blue ribbon, edged with white^' 



166 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

&c. Of this new order, Washington was unani- 
mously chosen president. 

"Without experiencing any open opposition," 
(says Marshall) "this institution was carried into 
complete efiect; and its honors, especially by the 
foreign officers, were sought with great avidity. 
But soon after it was organized, those jealousies, 
which in its first moments had been concealed, 
burst forth into open view. In October, 1783, a 
pamphlet was published by Mr. Burk, of South Ca- 
rolina, for the purpose of rousing the apprehen- 
sions of the public, and of directing its resentments 
against the society. Perceiving in the Cincinnati 
the foundation of an hereditary order, whose 
base, from associating with the military the chiefs 
of the powerful families in each State, would ac- 
quire a degree of solidity and strength admitting 
of any superstructure, he portrayed, in that fei-vid 
and infectious language which is the genuine off- 
spring of passion, the dangers to result from the 
fabric which would be erected on it. The minis- 
ters of the United States too, in Europe, and the 
political theorists who cast their eyes toward the 
west for support to favorite systems, having the 
privileged orders constantly in view, were loud 
in their condemnation of an institution, from 
which a race of nobles was expected to spring. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 167 

Througliout every State the alarm was spread, and a 
liigh degree of jealousy pervaded the mass of the 
people." 

Hamilton endeavored to procure a modification 
of some of the more aristocratic features of the in- 
stitution, but his efforts were without success. 

The same apprehensions in reference to this so- 
ciety have contined to exist until the present period, 
although they are much diminished by the extinc- 
tion of its original members, and by the progress 
of free and liberal principles. 

In a letter to General Washington, dated April 
16, 1784, Mr, Jefferson gives, at full length, his 
objections to the institution of the Cincinnati, from 
which we introduce the following brief passage : 
" The objections of those who are opposed to the 
institution shall be briefly sketched. You will rea- 
dily fill them up. They urge that it is against the 
confederation, against the letter of some of our con- 
stitutions, against the spirit of all of them; that 
the foundation on which all these are built is the 
natural eqiiality of man, the denial of every pre- 
eminence but that annexed to legal office, and par- 
ticularly the denial of a pre-emiuence by birth ; 
that however, in their present dispositions, citizens 
might decline accepting honorary installments into 
the order, a time may come when a well directed 



168 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

distribution of them might draw into the order all 
the men of talents, of office, and wealth; and, in 
this case, would probably procure an engraftment 
into the government; that in this they will be sup- 
ported by their foreign members, and the wishes 
and influence of foreign courts; that experience 
has shown that the hereditary branches of modern 
governments are the patrons of privilege and pre- 
rogative, and not of the natural rights of the people, 
whose oppressors they generally are; that, besides 
these evils, which are remote, others may take place 
more immediately; that a distinction is kept up 
between the civil and military, which it is for the 
happiness of both to obliterate; that when the 
members assemble they will be proposing to do 
something, and what that something may be, will 
depend on actual circumstances ; that being an or- 
ganized body, under habits of subordination, the 
first obstruction to enterprise will be already sur- 
mounted ; that the moderation and virtue of a single 
character have probably prevented this revolution from 
being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion 
of that liberty it was intended to establish; that he is 
not immortal, and his successor, or some of his suc- 
cessors, may be led by false calculations into a less 
certain road to glory." 

It has always been known that Mr. Jefferson was 
opposed to the institution of the Cincinnati, as con-. 



OF ALEXANDER, HAMILTON 1G9 

tainiDg the germ of an hereditary nohility ; but to 
what precise extent he carried his objections, 
it is ditiicult to discover. The foregoing letter, 
published by his grandson, in the volume that con- 
tains his memoir of his own life, throws some 
light on the subject. It appears, from the preced- 
ing extract, that he opposed it on the broadest 
grounds of democracy, equality, and popular sove- 
reignty and rule. 

His letters from Paris in 1785 and '86, to Wash- 
ington himself, as well as others, breathe the purest 
attachment and the highest veneration for that 
great patriot ; from whom he does not seem to have 
become alienated till subsequent events and his own 
ambition generated feelings of an opposite nature : 
all produced by the new situation which he was 
called to occupy in the government. It is re- 
markable also that at the dates here referred to, he 
took peculiar pleasure in discoursing on matters 
connected with pomp, splendor, and ceremony ; so 
that the Oourt of Versailles, instead of disgusting 
his republican taste, seems on the contrary to have 
been highly pleasing to him. Being intrusted at 
this time with a commission to procure an artist to 
execute an equestrian statue of Washington, he ap- 
pears to have taken great pleasure, and spent much 
labor in that undertaking; which led him to a pro- 
tracted correspondence, in which his ovei'flowing 
15 



170 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

affection for "Wasliington was constantly manifested, 
which could not fail to awaken in the breast of 
the first President a corresponding sentiment of 
attachment, esteem, and confidence. 

During this year (1786) Hamilton's career was dis- 
tinguished by the active and efiicient part which he 
took in the Annapolis convention. He had never 
abandoned his views in reference to the great design 
of a national constitution. He wished that New York 
should definitively adopt or reject the revenue system 
of 1783 ; and in case she rejected it, that she shoukl 
appoint commissioners to attend the Annapolis con- 
vention, the aims and purposes of which were solely 
commercial. He regarded this commercial conven- 
tion as a preliminary measure to a general convention 
to form a federal constitution. Commissioners to the 
Annapolis convention were appointed by the legis- 
lature of New York, of whom Hamilton was one. 
New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania also ap- 
pointed commissioners. Those selected by New 
York, in addition to Hamilton, were Duane, R. R. 
Livingston, Tl. C. Livingston, Benson, and Ganse- 
voort. Benson and Hamilton alone proceeded to 
Annapolis.* After some deliberation a committee 

• The States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
and North Carolina had also appointed commissioners ; but they 
did not attend. New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
New Jersey alone were represented. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 171 

was appointed to prepare an address to the States, 
and the draft of this address was written by Hamil- 
ton. It was offered and adopted on the 14th Sep- 
tember, 1786. 

This address described with great force and clear- 
ness the condition of the States, and the necessity 
for a more efficient government. It urged the pro- 
priety of a speedy meeting of delegates from all the 
colonies of the Confederacy. It asserted that impor- 
tant defects existed in the commercial system of the 
federal government; that, in consequence, embar- 
rassments characterized the existing state of our na- 
tional affiiirs, both foreign and domestic ; that the 
best remedy for these would be the assembling of a 
general convention from all the States ; that a suit- 
able time and place for the assembling of such a con- 
vention would be the second Monday of May, 1787, 
at Philadelphia; and that the great aim and pur- 
pose of that convention should be to render the 
constitution of the federal government adequate 
to meet the existing exigencies of the Union ; and 
report such an act for that purpose to the United 
States in Congress assembled, as, when agreed to 
by them, and afterward confirmed by the Legisla- 
ture of each State, will most effectually provide for 
the same. 

Immediately after the adjournment of the Con- 



172 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

vention of Annapolis, which had resulted only in 
recommending wise and judicious measures to the 
several colonies, Hamilton was elected to the Legis- 
lature of New York. That State had, under the 
guidance of its governor, Clinton, obstinately re- 
fused to acquiesce in the adoption of the proposed 
' revenue system of 1783. It was thought by the 
party at whose head Clinton stood, that the interests 
of '^Qw York as a separate State were different 
from, and antagonistic to the operation of the system 
of 1783, which nearly all .the other members of the 
confederacy had approved. One of the provisions 
of that law was, that the revenues due to the federal 
government from the State should be collected by 
federal officers, who were amenable only to the 
authority of the United States. The idea of State 
aggrandizement alone guided the policy of Governor 
Clinton, forgetful of the necessity and duty of 
protecting, in a confederacy like this, the interests 
of the central government. 

At this period the influence of Governor Clinton, 
who had already occupied his high place for nearly 
ten years, was almost supreme in New York ; but 
Hamilton was nominated for the assembly by the 
wise and patriotic party who opposed his contracted 
policy ; and as their representative he was elected, his 
great personal popularity contributing in no small 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 173 

degree, to the accomplishment of this result. Gene- 
ral Schuyler was at the same time their candidate 
for the Senate. .The legislature met in January, 
1787, in the city of New York. The opening ad- 
dress of the governor was referred to a committee of 
which Hamilton was a member. lie drew up its re- 
port. The committee having made a report in which 
they abstained from either censuring or commend- 
ing the conduct of Governor Clinton, Hamilton 
addressed the house.* His speech was lengthy, but 
plain, simple, and argumentative. He went over the 
whole subject involved in the controversy. He pro- 
posed conciliation, and an acquiescence with the 
recommendation of Congress on the subject of the 
revenue. But so strong were the prevalent preju- 
dices, and so powerful was the party of Governor 
Clinton, that when the vote was taken on the re- 
port, the conciliatory substitute which Hamilton had 
offered was rejected by thirty-six to nine. 

Hamilton's presence in the Legislature of 1787 
was marked by his usual industry and ability. He 
moved a reference of the laws which seemed appa- 
rently to contravene the provisions of the late treaty 

* The chief dispute about the conduct of the governor was, 
whether or not he should have called a meeting of the legislature at 
an earlier date, according to the requisition of Congress, in order to 
approve of the act of 1783. 

15* 



174 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

with Great Britain ; another relative to debts due 
to persons within the enemy's lines; and another in 
reference to the Trespass Act, already referred to in 
these pages. He took a prominent part in a dis- 
cussion which arose in regard to excluding from 
seats in the legislature all those Avho were either 
pensioners or officers of the federal government. 
He delivered an elaborate speech in reference 
to the election laws, and upon the important 
question whether the legislature possessed the 
power of abridging the. constitutional rights of 
the people. 

As a member of the Committee of "Ways and 
Means, he brought forward a plan which he had 
long before matured, to exclude arbitrary valuations 
in taxation. His great purpose was to substitute a 
mode by which each individual might himself esti- 
mate the amount of his taxes, without being de- 
pendent on the caprices of another, and to secure, 
as far as possible, certainty and equality in taxation. 
He also directed his attention to criminal jurispru- 
dence. He proposed a law for the speedy trial of 
small offenders. He introduced clearer definitions 
of all the grades of crime, and a more efficient 
method of obtaining the operation and benefit of the 
Habeas Corpus Act. In all his proposed amend- 
ments in reference to criminal law, benevolence to 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 175 

the fallen, and clemency to the guilty, were the 
leading principles which guided him. He devised a 
plan to build up a great system of public instruction 
upon comprehensive principles, to incorporate that 
system into the public policy of the State, and to 
render it by constant and familiar use an indis- 
pensable and cherished want of the community. 
He proposed an institution for public instruction 
under the form and title of a University, to be 
known as the "University of the State of New 
York;" and to his energy and enlightened patriot- 
ism that city is indebted for the stately presence 
and benignant influence of her noble University ; 
and for the establishment of several of the most 
useful Academies which now exist throughout the 
State. 



176 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER IX. 



DIFFICULTIES BETWEEN THE STATES OF TERMONT AND NEW YORK — 
HAMILTON'S SPEECH ON THE SUBJECT A FEDERAL CONSTITUTION PRO- 
POSED BY HAMILTON — CONDITION AND WANTS OF THE COUNTRY ARTI- 
CLES OF CONFEDERATION — VIRGINIA PROPOSES A FEDERAL CONVENTION 

HAMILTON CHOSEN TO REPRESENT THE STATE OF NEW YORK IN IT 

HIS IMPORTANT LABORS IN THAT CONVENTION — DRAFTS THE CONSTITU- 
TION OP THE UNITED STATES — PROVISIONS OF THAT CONSTITUTION 

GREAT DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME — ITS FINAL ADOPTION. 



In March, 1787, a crisis of great importance and 
danger occurred in our national history. The State 
of Vermont was at that time, in efiect, an independ- 
ent sovereignty. She had never united with the 
confederacy. She was a stranger, and seemed soon 
about to assume the attitude of an enemy to the 
Union. Many of the inhabitants of New York had 
purchased from that State lands in the disputed terri- 
tory claimed by Vermont. Mr. Hamilton, then a mem- 
ber of the New York Legislature, introduced a bill 
" to authorize the delegates of New York in Congress 
to accede to and confirm the independence and sove- 
reignty of the people inhabiting the district of country 
commonly called Vermont." He accompanied this 
bill with appropriate remarks, showing how it was 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 177 

the only means of quieting the existing disturb- 
ance, and averting the impending dangers of intes- 
tine war. 

The bill was violently opposed by counsel in be- 
half of those citizens who claimed lands within the 
jurisdiction of tliat State. Richard Harrison, a 
distinguished lawyer of 'New York, was heard in 
their behalf at the bar of the House. He argued 
against the bill with great learning and ability. He 
attempted to prove that it was unconstitutional, 
impolitic, and destructive of the rights of the citizens 
of New York. Mr. Hamilton responded ; and his 
argument was one of unsurpassed power and elo- 
quence. He vindicated his bill by showing that the 
State was under no obligations from the principles 
involved in the social compact — whatever they might 
be pleased to do from generosity or policy — to in- 
demnify the citizens of New York for losses sus- 
tained by a violent dismemberment of a part of the 
body politic, which they did not possess the power 
to prevent or to reclaim. This speech, together 
with one which he delivered in favor of the cession 
of the five per centum imposts to the United States, 
were justly regarded as perfect models of senatorial 
argument and eloquence, were universally admired 
at the time by men of all parties, and contributed 
in no small degree to elevate his already exalted 



178 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

fame. In the speech in reference to the impost he 
took a comprehensive view of the history and con- 
dition of the Union, and clearly demonstrated that 
there was no constitutional impediment to the pas- 
sage of the bill; that there was not the slightest 
danger to be apprehended to the liberty of the 
people by intrusting the power in question to the 
United States ; that the measure was highly advan- 
tageous in consequence of its influence on the 
revenue ; and that our national affairs would soon 
be involved in ruin, if the chaos which then existed 
and pervaded every portion of them, to a greater or 
less extent, was permitted to continue. It was on 
this occasion that he made the following remarkable 
declaration : " If in the public stations I have filled 
I have acquitted myself with zeal, fidelity and dis- 
interestedness; if in the private walks of life my 
conduct has been unstained by any dishonorable 
act; I have a right to the confidence of those to 
whom I address myself."* 

After the conclusion of his speech on the subject 
of the dispute with Vermont, the question was taken, 
and the bill recognizing the independence of that 
State, on the condition that she united with the 

• See a " Brief Review of the Public Life and Writings of Gene- 
ral Hamilton" in the " Albany Sentinel," New York, Hopkins & 
Seymour, 18U4. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 179 

confederacy, was passed. This happy result averted 
tlie horrors of a civil war, which at that crisis im- 
pended very closely over the respective States to 
the issue. 

We have now arrived at that point, in the career 
of this remarkable man so full of intellectual re- 
sources, so patriotic, so indefatigable, so sagacious, 
so eloquent, and so profound, that his labors and his 
abilities seem to transcend, even in the most cautious 
judgment, those of any other statesman of ancient 
or modern times ; when he performs his most im- 
portant service to his country, and erects a monu- 
ment to his own fame more honorable and more 
permanent than fell to the lot of any other Ameri- 
can patriot, save "Washington alone. We mean the 
formation and adoption of the Federal Constitution 
which now unites, governs, and protects this glori- 
ous Union with such prosperity and splendor. A 
few remarks in reference to the state and wants of 
the country, at that important period, will not be in- 
appropriate as preliminary to a relation of Hamil- 
ton's agency in reference to the matter. 

After the termination of the Revolutionary war, 
the States were governed by the Articles of Confed- 
eration or Union which had been formed under the 
influence and pressure of the common danger. The 
progress of time soon very clearly proved that they 



180 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

furnished no solid foundation for the estahhshment 
and perpetuity of the government. The prevalence 
of peace and prosperity introduced many selfish and 
conflicting interests, the disposition and control 
of which were not provided for. A radical and 
thorough reform now became absolutely indispensa- 
ble ; and the wisest and ablest statesmen of the 
land readily acknowledged and felt this necessity. 
The original compact required the concurrence of 
seven States to the validity of every act of legisla- 
tion, and of nine to some of the most important of 
them. The consequence was that frequently some 
of the States were not represented in some of the 
sessions of the general Congress ; or were repre- 
sented by one member only, or by an even number. 
The result of this was that in many cases these 
States had no voice in the passage of the laws, or 
their votes being equal were of no effect. 

The existing bond of union was not only defec- 
tive in its powers, but also in the means of execut- 
ing them. All its acts were of none effect in the 
respective States unless approved by the legislatures 
of those States. The laws of Congress were de- 
pendent on the support and endorsement of the State 
laws in order to give them validity and effect. The 
general government was thus totally paralyzed. No 
suflicient fund could be provided to liquidate the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 181 

interest of the national debt. The consequence was 
that the public securities of the United States fell to 
one-tenth of their nominal value. The soldiers of 
the Revolution, who had bought with their toils and 
blood the liberties of the land, had received a certi- 
ficate for the payment of their dues, which necessity 
often compelled them to sell, and for which they 
could obtain but an insignificant equivalent. The 
man of wealth who had made loans to the Conti- 
nental government in the hour of its darkest neces- 
sity, was deprived not only of his interest, but even 
of a portion of his principal. An apology and ex- 
cuse had been embraced for the non-fulfillment of 
the private contracts which had been formed, in con- 
sequence of this dereliction of the government. 
The results of all these evils were in the hisrhest 
degree disastrous. Mutual confidence was in a great 
measure destroyed. The moral tone of the com- 
munity was seriously deteriorated. Heavy restric- 
tions were placed on American commerce. The in- 
tercourse with the British West Indies, from which 
the colonies had derived large supplies of gold and 
silver, was forbidden and cut ofl" by the British 
government. Spain resisted their right to navigate 
the Mississippi river. Their safety in the Mediterra- 
nean sea was put in jeopardy. Being no longer 
protected by the power and awe of the British flag, 
16 



182 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

American ships were attacked in those and the ad- 
jacent waters by th.e Algerine pirates ; and they 
were thus compelled to abandon a most lucrative 
trade, or else insure their cargoes at a most ruinous 
premium. Thus in reality many of the evils which 
ensued after the attainment of independence, were 
even greater than those which the British despot 
had inflicted previous to the outbreak of the Eevo- 
lution. The people imagined that with the attain- 
ment of liberty they had secured boundless pros- 
peri t}', that all their misfortunes and troubles w^ere 
at an end ; but they discovered that they had 
secured freedom without its appropriate concomi- 
tants, and the name of an independent nation with- 
out its influence, its position, and its attributes. 

The operation of these pernicious causes led some 
to adopt violent unconstitutional and pernicious re- 
medies. Eiots and insurrections had occurred in 
Massachusetts; the arsenal was attacked, and a 
demand made of the legislature to reduce the taxes. 
Other outbursts in other directions took place, all 
of which, to discerning minds, were portents of 
greater evils yet to come. It became absolutely ne- 
cessary to adopt some efiicient remedy, if the pros- 
perity of the country was to be rescued from the 
impending ruin. Accordingly James Madison, in 
the name of Virginia, made a proposition to all the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 183 

other States of the Confederation to meet in general 
convention, in order to digest a form of government 
equal and adapted to the growing exigencies of the 
colonies. The State of Virginia, immediately after 
the adjournment of the Convention at Annapolis, 
appointed seven commissioners to the general con- 
vention. New Jersey was the second to adopt the 
proposition ; and on the 23d of ISTovember she selected 
commissioners with similar powers. Pennsylvania 
was the third, and appointed her representatives on 
the 30th of December, 1786. At first the State of 
New York was not disposed to co-operate. Some of 
her leading statesmen were misled by the selfish 
policy of Governor Clinton, who still wished to 
aggrandize the State at the expense of the federal 
government. Hamilton put forth his utmost efibrts 
to counteract this pernicious and short-sighted po- 
licy. Congress then sat in the city of New York. 
He mixed daily with the members. He used every 
possible method of conciliation toward the national 
representatives and those of the legislature of the 
State. His house was their frequent resort ; and by 
the charms of his eloquence, and by his unequaled 
powers of conversation, he endeavored to convince 
all men of the necessity and value of a more perfect 
and efiicient union. He condemned those who 
asserted that it was unsafe to confer great fiscal 



184 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

powers on Congress, because it was a body without 
cbecks, while at the same time they refused to alter 
and amend its constitution in such a manner as to 
render it both responsible and efficient. At length 
on the 8th of March, 1787, New York concurred, 
and appointed delegates to the Convention. These 
were Chief Justice Yates, Hamilton, and Lansing.* 
On the 9th of April, Massachusetts appointed five 
deputies. At length, on the 25th of May, represen- 
tatives from every State in the Union except Rhode 
Island met in Philadelphia. They chose General 
"Washington as president. They deliberated with 
closed doors until the 17th of September, and during 
the interval they had adopted the new plan of na- 
tional government now known and revered through- 
out the civilized world, as the " Constitution of the 
United States of America." This constitution was 
signed by Washington as president of the Conven- 
tion, and was approved by him. Copies of it were 
sent to the legislatures of the different States for 
their approval. It was submitted by the several 
legislatures to Conventions appointed in each State 
by the people. And it was at length, after thorough 
and mature deliberation, adopted and approved by 
every one of the then existing States. 

» See Senate Journal of New York, February 28t,h, 1787. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 185 

The agency of Hamilton in this celebrated Con- 
vention was of the first prominence and importance. 
The details of his activity were not then known, in- 
asmuch as the deliberations were held with closed 
doors. Yet the nature and value of his labors we 
may now readily estimate from facts that have since 
become known.* That Convention, to whose hands 
was committed the creation of that sublime and 
omnific instrument which was destined to mould the 
character and future career of this vast confederacy, 
which even now in half a century rivals in mag- 
nitude, in power, and in glory, the empires of 
Augustus or Charlemagne, were duly impressed 
with the importance of the functions confided 
to their hands ; and yet they intrusted to Hamil- 
ton, still a young man of thirty years, the most 
responsible and diflicult portions of their duty. A 
committee was first appointed to frame the standing 
rules of the Convention. Wythe of Virginia, Pinck- 
ney of South Carolina, and Hamilton, were appointed 
the members of that committee. They reported, and 
their report, with some unimportant amendments, 
was adopted. On the 29th of May, fifteen proposi- 

• The Journal of the Debates of the Federal Convention was 
published by order of Congress, March 27th, 1818. It is an incident 
here worthy of note, that Mr. Madison survived all the other mem- 
bers of that Convention. 

16* 



186 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tions suggesting the establishment of a national 
"government were laid before the Convention by 
Edmund Randolph of Virginia. The Convention 
resolved itself into a committee of the whole to dis- 
cuss these propositions. Diiferent members then 
addressed the committee at length. Charles Pinck- 
ney was the first. Hamilton, in his argument, con- 
tended that a national government ought to be esta- 
blished consisting of a supreme legislative, judicial, 
and executive branches ; and that the right of suffrage 
in the National Legislature ought to be apportioned 
to the number of free inhabitants and not to the 
quotas of contribution. The discussions in the Con- 
vention were protracted and deliberate. An im- 
portant theme of debate which arose, was, whether 
the Convention should recommend the establish- 
ment of a national government, or whether it should 
propose mere articles of confederation. Hamilton 
contended, as might have been expected, for the 
former. In fact two parties existed in the Conven- 
tion, at the head of one of which was Hamilton, the 
federalist, and at the head of the other was Madison, 
the radical or democrat. Hamilton contended that 
the National Legislature should have the power 
to negative all the laws of the States which to them 
appeared improper. He thought that this power 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 187 

would create a mutual dependence between the 
general and state authorities. ^ 

Neither of the parties seemed able to harmonize 
on the plans already proposed. It appeared as if 
their deliberations would eventually prove futile 
and productive of no result. During the sessions of 
the Convention, and while the discussion of Mr. 
Randolph's propositions was progressing, Hamilton 
had been busily preparing a plan of government in 
which, while he closely adhered to the great princi- 
ples which should lie at the basis of a republic, en- 
deavored to impart to it the permanency, vigor and 
efficiency which characterize a constitutional and 
limited monarchy. On the 18th of June he ad- 
dressed the committee of the whole at length ; and 
proposed the chief ideas of the system which he in- 
tended to submit. This celebrated speech, of which 
the systematic and logical skeleton still remains 
among his papers,* was pronounced by Gouverneur 
Morris to have been the most able and impressive he 
had ever heard ; and during its delivery he read the 
elaborate plan of government which he had pre- 
pared ; a plan so fully and perfectly matured by his 
sagacious and powerful mind, that it might have 
gone into immediate effect the very day of its 

• See Life of Hamilton, by J. C. Hamilton, Vol. II. p. 481. 



188 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

adoption. It consisted of ten articles, each article 
being subdivided into sections. 

The first article declared that the supreme legisla- 
tive power ought to be vested in an assembly and 
senate, subject to a negative ; that the supreme 
executive power should be intrusted to a president ; 
and the supreme judicial authority vested in a court 
consisting of not less than six nor more than twelve 
justices. 

The second article proposed that the representa- 
tives should be chosen by the free male citizens of 
the several States of the Union, all of whom of the 
age of twenty-one years and upward should be en- 
titled to an equal vote. 

The third article related to the second branch of 
the legislature, or senate. The fourth article had re- 
ference to the chief executive, the mode of his elec- 
tion, his prerogatives, and his duties. The fifth 
article discussed theofiice of the chief justice, of the 
other justices, of the trial by jury. The various 
other articles which followed were intended to meet 
the different exigencies in national history which 
might occur; the establishment of the army, the 
protection of property, the execution and fulfillment 
of treaties, the creation of new States, and the 
common rights and immunities which, in every part 
of the confederacy, should forever be the possession 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 189 

of every American citizen. The tenth article finally 
provided that the new constitution should be sub- 
mitted to Conventions of the people of each State, 
consisting of deputies chosen by their respective 
legislatures. When the constitution had thus been 
fully and finally ratified, Congress were to give no- 
tice of a time and place of meeting of the senators 
and representatives from all the States ; a majority 
of whom when assembled should, by a plurality 
of votes in joint ballot, elect a president of the United 
States ; and the government thus organized under 
the new constitution should commence its operation. 
Such was the plan devised by the sagacious and 
profound intellect of Hamilton. The great principle 
which lay at the foundation of his system was that, 
in order to render the confederacy powerful, pros- 
perous, and enduring, the national government 
ought to have sufiicient authority and vigor dele- 
gated to it by the State government, to enable it to 
support itself without the aid or interference of the 
State governments. He contended that the first 
branch of the national legislature should be elected 
directly by the people, and not by the State legisla- 
tures ; because the period might arrive when the 
State legislatures would cease to exist. As to the se- 
cond branch, the senate, he asserted that they should 
be chosen by the people through the agency of 



190 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

electors. He held and repeatedly uttered the great 
doctrine, that true liberty was to be found neither in 
despotism, nor in the extremes of democracy, but in 
moderate governments alone; for too much de- 
mocracy leads to popular despotism. 

The views of Jefferson, the illustrious father of 
American democracy, in reference to the federal 
Constitution, may be ascertained from the following 
extracts from his letters ; and are interesting in this 
connection. 

" This Convention met at Philadelphia. It sat 
with closed doors, and kept all its proceedings secret 
until its dissolution on the 17th of September, when 
the results of its labors were published all together. 
I received a copy early in IsTovember, and read and 
contemplated its provisions with great satisfaction. As 
not a member of the Convention, however, nor pro- 
bably a single citizen of the Union had approved it 
in all its parts, so I too found articles which I thought 
objectionable. The absence of express declarations 
insuring freedom of religion, freedom of the press, 
freedom of the person, under the uninterrupted pro- 
tection of the habeas corpus, and trial by jury in 
civil as well as in criminal cases, excited my jeal- 
ousy; and the re-eligibility of the president for life 
I quite disapproved. I expressed freely, in letters 
to my friends, and more particularly to Mr. JSIadi- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 191 

son and General Washington, my approbations and 
objections. How the good shoukl be secured, and 
the ill brought to rights, was the difficulty. To 
refer it back to a new Convention might endanger 
the loss of the whole. My first idea was, that the 
nine States first acting should accept it uncon- 
ditionally, and thus secure what in it was good ; and 
that the four last should accept on the previous con- 
dition that certain amendments should be agreed 
to ; but a better course was devised of accepting the 
whole, and trusting that the good sense and honest 
intentions of our citizens would make the altera- 
tions which should be deemed necessary. Accord- 
ingly all accepted, six without objection, and seven 
with recommendations of specified amendments. 
Those respecting the press, religion, and juries, with 
several others of great value, were accordingly made ; 
but the habeas corpus was left to the discretion of 
Congress, and the amendment against the re-eligi- 
bility of the president was not proposed. My fears 
of that feature were founded on the importance of 
the office, on the fierce contentions it might excite 
among ourselves, if continuable for life, and the 
dangers of interference, either with money or arms, 
by foreign nations, to whom the choice of an Ame- 
rican president might become interesting. Exam- 
ples of this abounded in history ; in the case of the 



192 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Roman emperors, for instance — of the popes, while 
of any significance — of the German emperors, tlie 
kings of Poland, and the deys of Barbary. I had 
observed, too, in the feudal history, and in the recent 
instance particularly of the Stadtholder of Holland, 
how easily offices or tenures for life slide into in- 
heritances. My wish therefore was, that the pre- 
sident should be elected for seven years, and be in- 
eligible afterward. This term I thought sufficient 
to enable him, with the concurrence of the legisla- 
ture, to carry through and establish any system of 
■* improvement he should propose for the general good. 
But the practice adopted, I think, is better — allow- 
ing his continuanee for eight years, with a liability 
to be dropped at half-way of the term, making that 
a period of probation. That this continuance should 
be restrained to seven years was the opinion of the 
Convention at an earlier stage of its session, when 
it voted that term by a majority of eight against 
two, and by a simple majority that he should be in- 
eligible a second time. This opinion was confirmed 
by the House so late as July 26th, referred to the 
committee of detail, reported favorably by them, 
and changed to the present form by final vote, on 
the last day but one only of their session. Of this 
change, three States expressed their disapprobation 
— New York, by recommending an amendment that 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 193 

the president should not be eligible a third time, 
and Virginia and North Carolina that he should not 
be capable of serving more than eight in any term 
of sixteen years ; and although this amendment has 
not been made in form, yet practice seems to have 
established it. The example of four presidents vo- 
luntarily retiring at the end of their eighth year, 
and the progress of public opinion that the principle 
is salutary, have given it in practice the force of 
precedent and usage; insomuch, that should a pre- 
sident consent to be a candidate for a third election, 
I trust he would be rejected, on this demonstra- 
tion of ambitious views. 

"But there was another amendment, of which 
none of us thought at the time, and in the omission 
of which lurks the germ that is to destroy this happy 
combination of national powers in the general 
government for matters of national concern, and in- 
dependent powers in the States for what concerns 
the States severally. In England it was a great 
point gained at the Revolution that the commis- 
sions of the judges, which had hitherto been during 
pleasure, should thenceforth be made during good 
behavior. A judiciary dependent on the will of the 
king, had proved itself the most oppressive of all 
tools in the hands of that magistrate. Nothing then 
could be more salutary than a change there to the 
17 



194 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tenure of good behavior; and the question of good 
behavior left to the vote of a simple majority in the 
two houses of Parliament. Before the Revolution, 
we were all good English whigs, cordial in their 
free principles and in their jealousies of their execu- 
tive magistrate. These jealousies are very apparent 
in all our State constitutions; and in the general 
government, in this instance, we have gone even 
beyond the English caution, by requiring a vote of 
two-thirds, in one of the houses, for removing a 
judge ; a vote so impossible, where any defense is 
made, before men of ordinary prejudices and pas- 
sions, that our judges are effectually independent 
of the nation. Bnt this ought not to he. I would not, 
indeed, make them dependent on the executive 
authority, as they formerly were in England ; but 
I deem it indispensable to the continuance of this 
government, that they should be submitted to some 
practical and impartial control; and that this, to be 
impartial, must be compounded of a mixture of 
State and Federal authorities. It is not enough 
that honest men are appointed judges. All know 
the influence of interest on the mind of man, and 
how unconsciously his judgment is warped by that 
influence. To this bias add that of the esprit da 
corps, of their peculiar maxim and creed that ' it is 
the office of a good judge to enlarge his jurisdiction,' 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 195 

and tlie absence of responsibility; and how can we 
expect impartial decision between the general 
government, of which they are themselves so emi- 
nent a part, and an individual State, from which 
they have nothing to hope or fear ? "VYe have seen, 
too, that contrary to all correct example, they are in 
the habit of going out of the question before them, 
to throw an anchor ahead, and grapple further hold 
for future advances of power. They are then, in 
fact, the corps of sappers and miners, steadily work- 
ing to undermine the independent rights of the States, 
and to consolidate all power in the hands of that 
government in which they have so important a 
freehold estate." 

In a letter to F. Hopkinson, dated Paris, March 
13th, 1789, he avows himself an advocate of a con- 
solidated government, and disclaims the suspicion 
of being an anti-federalist. "You say that I have 
been dished up to you as an anti-federalist, and ask 
me if it be just. My opinion was never worthy 
enough of notice, to merit citing ; but since you ask 
it, I will tell it to you. I am not a federalist, be- 
cause I never submitted the whole system of my 
opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, 
in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in any 
thing else, where I was capable of thinking for my- 
self. Such an addiction is the last degradation of 



196 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

a free and moral agent. If T could not go to hea- 
ven but with a party, I would not go there at all. 
Therefore I protest to you, I am not of the party of 
federalists. But I am much farther from that of the 
antifederalists. I approved from the first of the 
great mass of what is in the new constitution ; the 
consolidation of the government; the organization 
into executive, legislative, and judiciary; the sub- 
division of the legislative ; the happy compromise 
of interests between the great and little States, by 
the diflerent manner of voting in the different 
houses ; the voting by persons instead of States ; 
the qualified negative on laws given to the execu- 
tive, which, however, I should have liked better, if 
associated with the judiciary also, as in New York; 
and the power of taxation. I thought at first that 
the latter might have been limited. A little re- 
flection soon convinced me it ought not to be. 
What I disapproved from the first moment, also, 
was the want of a Bill of Rights, to guard liberty 
against the legislative as well as executive branches 
of the government; that is to say, to secure freedom 
in religion, freedom of the press, freedom from 
monopolies, freedom from unlawful imprisonment, 
freedom from a permanent military, and a trial by 
jury, in all cases determinable by the laws of the 
land. I disapproved also the 'perpetual re-eligihility 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 197 

of the president. To these points of disapprobation 
I adhere. My first wish was, that the nine first 
Conventions might accept the constitution, as the 
means of securing to us the great mass of good it 
contained, and that the four last might reject it, as 
the means of obtaining amendments. But I was 
corrected in this wish the moment I saw the much 
better plan of Massachusetts, and which had never 
occurred to me. With respect to the declaration of 
rights, I suppose the majority of the United States 
are of my opinion : for I apprehend all the anti- 
federalists, and a very respectable portion of the 
federalists, think that such a declaration should now 
be annexed. The enlightened part of Europe have 
given us the greatest credit for inventing this in- 
strument of security for the rights of the people, and 
have been not a little surprised to see us so soon 
give it up. With respect to the re-eligibility of the 
president, I find myself difl:ering from the majority 
of my countrymen ; for I think there are but three 
States of the eleven which have desired an altera- 
tion of this. And, indeed, since the thing is esta- 
blished, I would wish it not to he altered during the 
life of our great leader, whose executive talents 
are superior to those, I believe, of any man in the 
world, and who alone, by the authority of his name 
and the confide^ice reposed in his perfect integrity^ is 
17* 



198 THF LIFE AND TIMES 

fully qualified to put the new government so under 
way, as to secure it against the efforts of opposi- 
tion. But having derived from our error all the 
good there was in it, I hope we shall correct it the 
moment we can no longer have the same name at 
the helm." 

The views of Hamilton gradually gained favor 
with the most able and enlightened members of the 
Convention. Judge Read, a delegate from Dela- 
ware, remarked : " I would have no objection if the 
government was more national. The plan of the 
gentleman from JSTew York is certainly the best. 
But the great evil is the unjust appropriation of the 
public lands. If there was but one national govern- 
ment, we would be all equally interested." 

It is unnecessary for us to narrate in these pages 
the details of the deliberations which took place 
in this memorable Convention. While that body 
was still in session, a mysterious report was promul- 
gated in New York, by the enemies of a National 
Confederacy, to the effect that the Convention in- 
tended to establish a monarchy, and to place at its 
head the Prince Bishop of Osnaburgh.* This 



• The " Bishop of Osnaburgh" was the titular dignity which 
belonged to one of the princes of the royal family of England. It 
was derived from Osnaburgh, a city of Hanover, and was one of the 
appendages of the dynasty of the reigning house of Hanover. At 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 199 

absurd report, in the existing state of public ex- 
citement and apprehension, was not without its 
weight. This circumstance increased Hamilton's 
anxiety for the establishment of an energetic national 
government. He continued to take an active par- 
ticipation in all the debates ; and hence Dr. Wil- 
liam Samuel Johnson, a delegate from Connecticut, 
very truly observed, that if "the Constitution did 
not succeed on trial, Mr. Hamilton was less respon- 
sible for that result than any other member, for he 
fully and frankly pointed out to the Convention 
what he apprehended were the infirmities to which 
it was liable. And that if it answered the fond ex- 
pectations of the public, the community would be 
more indebted to Mr. Hamilton than to any other 
member ; for after its essential outlines were agreed 
to, he labored most indefatigably to heal those in- 
firmities, and to guard against the evils to which 
they might expose it." 

When the Convention at last came to vote on 
the adoption of the Constitution which had been 
proposed and discussed, a few members opposed it, 
and refused to append their signatures. Among 

the time of the Revolution this title and dignity belonged to Prince 
William Henry, Duke of Clarence. Hence the proposition stated 
to have been made in the Convention, was nothing less than the 
re -establishment of British rule in the colonies, in the person of one 
of the princes of the blood. 



200 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

these were the deputies from the State of New 
York; and accordingly the name of Hamilton ap- 
pears alone subscribed to it. Three others also 
refused to sign it. These were Gerry, Mason, and 
Randolph. 

The federal Constitution, as finally adopted and 
recommended by the Convention, eventually se- 
cured the approbation of all the States, and went 
into operation on the first "Wednesday in March, 
1789.* Twelve additional articles were afterward 
adopted, at difiterent periods, as soon as they were 
rendered necessary by the exigencies of the nation. 
Although some considerable changes were intro- 
duced into the first draft, as submitted by Hamilton, 
yet it may with justice be said, that the present 
Constitution of the United States, the most perfect 
piece of political machinery which the world has 
ever seen ; beautiful, complete, harmonious, and effi- 
cient, as the experience of more than half a century 
has proved it to be ; was the production of the mas- 
terly mind of Hamilton, and proceeded from his hand, 
like Minerva from the brain of Jove, a form of 
matchless beauty and perfection. With great truth 
has the profound statesman Guizot declared, in his 
able work on the character of Washington, that 
"Hamilton must be classed among the men who 

* See 5 Wheaton's Reports, p. 420. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 201 

have best known the vital principles and funda- 
mental conditions of a government ; not of a gov- 
ernment such as this, but of a government worthy 
of its mission and of its name. There is not in the 
Constitution of the United States an element of 
order, of force, or of duration, which he has not 
powerfully contributed to introduce into it and to 
give it a predominance." 

After the publication of the Constitution, and 
while the people were discussing its merits through- 
out the whole nation, complaints were made against 
Mr. Hamilton to the effect that he had proposed mea- 
sures to the Convention which were in substance mon- 
archical. This absurd charge drew forth a voluntary 
vindication from the celebrated Luther Martin, who, 
in a publication, declared " that Hamilton, in a most 
able and eloquent address, did express his general 
ideas upon the subject of government, and of that 
government which would, in all human probability, 
be most advantageous for the United States I ad- 
mit ; but in thus expressing his sentiments he did 
not suggest a wish that any one officer of the 
government should derive his power from any other 
source than the people ; that there should be in any 
instance an hereditary succession to office ; nor that 
any person should continue longer than during 
good behavior." During the period that the Con- 



202 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

stitution was under popular scrutiny, and in order 
to counteract the absurd prejudices which not a few 
designing demagogues were active in disseminating 
both publicly and secretly among the people, the 
celebrated series of essays entitled the Federalist 
was written. Its authors were Hamilton, Madison, 
and Jay; but the largest and most valuable por- 
tion of the work was composed by Mr. Hamilton. 
This is one of the most able and profound produc- 
tions of any land or age, and deserves to take a 
permanent and undisputed place by the side of the 
great works of Burlamaqui, Grotius, and Mon- 
tesquieu, in the science of Political Philosophy. 

But in order to oppose more directly the tide of 
popular prejudice and ignorance against the new 
Constitution, Hamilton published another essay, in 
which he holds the following language : " The new 
Constitution has, in favor of its success, these cir- 
cumstances : A very great weight of influence of 
the persons who framed it, particularly in the uni- 
versal popularity of General Washington. The 
good-will of the commercial interest throughout 
the States, which will give all its efforts to the 
establishment of a government capable of regulat- 
ing, protecting, and extending the commerce of the 
Union. The good-will of most men of property 
in the several States, who wish a government of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 203 

the Union able to protect them against domestic 
violence and the depredations which the democratic 
spirit is apt to make on property, and who are be- 
sides anxious for the respectability of the nation. 
The hopes of the creditors of the United States 
that a general government, possessing the means 
of doing it, will pay the debt of the Union. A 
strong belief of the people at large of the insuffi- 
ciency of the present confederation to preserve the 
existence of the Union, and of the necessity of the 
Union to their safety and prosperity; of course, a 
strong desire of a change, and a predisposition to 
receive well the propositions of the Convention." 

He also predicted that if the Constitution were 
adopted, Washington would be elected the first 
President; that that event would insure a wise and 
prudent administration ; that such an administration 
would secure the confidence and afiection of the 
whole nation ; and that thus the central govern- 
ment would acquire more consistency and power 
than by the letter of the Constitution it was entitled 
to receive. 

In the end, the predictions of this great man and 
profound statesman were fully realized. The Con- 
stitution, which he chiefly elaborated, was finally 
adopted ; and has since become the subject of the 
constant eulogy of myriads of eloquent tongues, 



204 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

and has received the admiration of the whole 
civilized world. The merit of Hamilton in connec- 
tion with it can now scarcely be estimated ; but 
when a thousand years of unequaled national pros- 
perity and glory shall have rolled over this con- 
federacy, which his great plastic hand moulded into 
so compact, so beautiful, and so consistent a mass ; 
when five hundred millions of beings shall inhabit 
this continent, turning by their thrifty industry 
all her boundless plains and valleys into blooming 
and fruitful gardens ; and when, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific shore an empire of freemen shall here 
live and reign under the benign control of that 
Constitution, being ten times greater than any pre- 
vious empire that ever existed on the earth ; then, 
indeed, may the vast services and the venerable 
name of Alexander Hamilton be cherished with 
the profound reverence and the high appreciation 
which they abundantly deserve,* 

In the summer of 1788 the Convention of the State 

• The following observation states clearly and beautifully one of 
the chief attributes or characteristics of this celebrated woi-k: 

"Constitution of the United States. — Like one of those won- 
drous rocking stones reared by the Druids, which the finger of a 
child may vibrate to the centre, yet the might of an army co-uld not 
move it from its place, our Constitution is so nicely poised and 
balanced, that it seems to sway with every breath of opinion, yet so 
firmly rooted in the heart and affections of the people, that the 
wildest storms of treason and fanaticism break over it in vain." — 
B. C. Winthrop. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 205 

of ISTew York met, of which Hamilton was a member. 
During the six weeks of its continuance he was 
actively employed in using his influence to induce 
that great State to adopt the federal Constitution, 
and unite with the confederacy. To his exertions 
it is mainly due that New York became a member 
of this great family of nations. His speeches be- 
fore this Convention set forth, with great power and 
eloquence, the same doctrines which are defended 
in the Federalist. The most remarkable are those 
in which he vindicated the constitutional stability 
and permanency of the United States Senate ; and 
clearly proved that the organization of that branch 
of the government ought to possess sufficient power 
to correct the prejudices, to control the passions, 
and to resist the fluctuations of the popular branch 
of the government.* 

* See Works of Alexander Hamilton, by J. C. Hamilton, 7 vols. 
8vo. Vol. II. p. 467. 



18 



206 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FIRST ELECTION OP FEDERAL OFFICERS — RELUCTANCE OP WASHING- 
TON TO ACCEPT THE PRESIDENCY — HIS LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT 

■WASHINGTON IS ELECTED PRESIDENT — STATE OF PARTIES IN THE 
rNITED STATES AT THAT TIME — SELECTION OP WASHINGTON'S CABINET 
— HAMILTON CHOSEN SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY — HIS FIRST RE- 
PORT ON PUBLIC CREDIT — HIS REPORT ON THE REVENUES — ORIGIN OF 
THE ANIMOSITY BETWEEN HAMILTON AND JEFFERSON — HAMILTON'S RE- 
PORT ON A NATIONAL BANK — CONTROVERSY RESPECTING STATE POWER 
AND FEDERAL RIGHTS — FIERCE CONFLICTS IN WASHINGTON'S CABINET — 
BIS ATTEMPT TO HARMONIZE ITS MEMBERS. 

After the adoption of the federal Constitution, 
the next step in the progress of the government, in 
1789, was the election of federal officers. The 
unanimous voice of a grateful nation loudly 
invited Washington to occupy the highest seat 
within their gift. He alone possessed the full and 
absolute confidence of the whole people, as yet dis- 
trustful and suspicious of the rival claims and in- 
terests of sections ; and it was believed that he 
alone possessed the intelligence, patriotism, firm- 
ness, knowledge of the wants of the whole con- 
federacy, and the experience which the crisis de- 
manded. 

Nothing but a high sense of public duty induced 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 207 

tlie Father of bis couutiy to accept the proffered 
elevation. He was then fifty-seven years of age. 
He had borne the innumerable labors and trials of 
the revolutionary struggle, and had now retired ta 
the shades of private life, to enjoy the tranquillity 
and repose which he so much needed ; yet, ever true 
to the behests of a lofty and unselfish patriotism, he 
was willing to make any sacrifice which his country 
might demand of him. On the 30th of April, 1789, 
he took the oath of office, and entered on the per- 
formance of his duties. Profound wisdom and 
prudence characterized all his acts from the mo- 
ment of his entrance into office. To one of those 
who, previous to his inauguration, had requested an 
appointment under government, he replied in the 
following impressive language : 

" Should it become absolutely necessary for me to 
occupy the station in which your letter presupposes 
me, I have determined to go into it perfectly free 
from all engagements, of every nature whatsoever. 

" If I declined the task it would be upon quite 
another principle. Notwithstanding my advanced 
season of life, my increasing fondness for agricul- 
tural amusements, and my growing love of retire- 
ment augment and confirm my decided predilec- 
tion for the character of a private citizen, yet it 
will be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to 



208 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

which my former reputation might be exposed, or 
the terror of encountering new fatigues and trou- 
bles, that would deter me from an acceptance ; but, 
that a belief that some other person, who had less 
pretense and less inclination to be excused, could 
execute all the duties full as satisfactorily as myself. 
To say more would be indiscreet, as a disclosure of 
a refusal beforehand might incur the application of 
the fable in which the fox is represented as under- 
valuing the grapes he could not reach. You w^ill 
perceive, my dear sir, by what is here observed (and 
which you will be pleased to consider in the ]ight 
of a confidential communication) that my inclina- 
tions will dispose and decide me to remain as I am, 
unless a clear and insurmountable conviction should 
be impressed on my mind that some very disa- 
greeable consequences must, in all human proba- 
bility, result from the indulgence of my wishes." 

In answer to a letter from General Lincoln, on the 
same subject, he thus expressed himself, in language 
so earnest and with feeling so intense, as to leave 
no room for suspicion that he sincerely desired to 
escape further honors, and repose amid the tran- 
quil shades of his estate. "I would willingly pass 
ovc. '•! silence that part of your letter in which 
you mention the persons who are candidates for the 
two first ofiices in the executive, if I did not fear 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 209 

the omission might seem to betray a want of confi 
clence. Motives of delicacy have prevented me 
hitherto from conversing, or writing on this subject, 
whenever I could avoid it with decency. I may, 
however, with great sincerity, and I belive without 
ofl'ending against modesty, or propriety, say to you^ 
that I most heartily wish the choice to which you 
allude might not fall upon me ; and that if it should, 
I must reserve to myself the right of making up 
my final decision, at the last moment, when it can 
be brought into one view, and when the expediency 
or inexpediency of a refusal can be more judiciously 
determined than at present. But be assured, my 
dear sir, if from any inducement I shall be per- 
suaded ultimately to accept, it will not be (so far as 
I know my own heart) from any of a private or per- 
sonal nature. Every personal consideration con- 
spires to rivet me (if I may use the expression) to 
retirement. At my time of life, and under my cir- 
cumstances, nothing in this world can ever draw me 
from it, unless it be a conviction that the partiality of 
my countrymen had made my services absolutely 
necessary, joined to a fear that my refusal might 
induce a belief that I preferred the conservation of 
my own reputation and private ease to the good of 
my country. After all, if I should conceive myself 
in a manner constrained to acce/pt, I call heaven to 
18* 



210 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

witness that this very act would be the greatest sa- 
crifice of my personal feelings and wishes that ever 
I have been called upon to make. It would be to 
forego repose and domestic enjoyment for trouble, 
perhaps for public obloquy: for, I should consider 
myself as entering upon an unexplored field, en- 
veloped on every side with clouds and darkness. 

" From this embarrassing situation I had natu- 
rally supposed that my declarations at the close of 
the war would have saved me ; and that my sincere 
intentions, then publicly made known, would have 
effectually precluded me forever afterward from 
being looked upon as a candidate for any oflice. 
This hope, as a last anchor of worldly happiness in 
old age, I had still carefully preserved, until the 
public papers, and private letters from my corres- 
pondents, in almost every quarter, taught me to 
apprehend that I might soon be obliged to answer 
the question, whether I would go again into public 
life or not." 

In his answer to a letter from Lafayette, press- 
ing him on the same point, he repeats the same 
sentiments with this addition : " Nothing short of 
a conviction of duty will induce me again to take 
an active part in puljlic affairs. And, in that case, 
if I can form a plan for my own conduct, my en- 
deavors shall be unremittingly exerted (even at the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 211 

hazard of former fame or present popularity) to ex- 
tricate my country from the embarrassments in 
which it is entangled through want of credit, and 
to establish a general system of policy which, if 
pursued, will insure permanent felicity to the com- 
monwealth. I think I see a path, as clear and as 
direct as a ray of light, which leads to the attain- 
ment of that object. Nothing but harmony, honesty, 
industry, and frugality are necessary to make us 
a great and happy people. Happily, the present 
posture of affairs, and the prevailing disposition of 
my countrymen, promise to co-operate in establish- 
ing those four great and essential pillars of public 
felicity." 

At length the election for electors of President 
and Vice-President, under the new Constitution, 
took place ; and on the 6th of April, 1789, the votes 
were opened and counted in the Senate ; when it 
appeared that George Washington was unanimously 
elected President of the United States by the people, 
and John Adams chosen Vice-President, to serve 
for four years from the 4th of March, 1789. ""- 

"When we consider the existing animosity of par- 
ties, the great proportion of the people who were al- 
ready arrayed under the banners of the anti-federal- 
its, and the violent efforts which were made to impede 
the first operations of the new Constitution, it will 



212 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

excite some surprise, tliat even the great popular 
weight of Washington's character should have 
frowned down all opposition to him ; and that the 
people of so immense and diversified a region of 
country should have united, without a dissenting 
voice among the electors, in conferring upon him the 
supreme executive power of the Union. 

As affording some evidence of the reluctance 
with which he consented to assume this new dignity, 
and as illustrative of that modesty and difiideuce 
which were natural to his great mind, we quote an 
extract from one of his letters to General Knox, 
upon the subject of his elevation to office. "I feel 
for those members of the new Congress who, 
hitherto, have given an unavailing attendance at 
the theatre of action. For myself, the delay may 
be compared to a reprieve ; for, in confidence, I 
tell you (with the world it would obtain little credit) 
that my movements to the chair of government will 
be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a 
culprit who is going to the place of his execution ; 
so unwilling am I, in the evening of life, nearly 
consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode 
for an ocean of difficulties, without that com^ietcnci) 
of political skill, abilities, and inclinations, which are 
necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that 
I am embarking the voice of the people, and a good 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 213 

name of my own on this voyage ; but what returns 
will be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. 
Integrity and firmness are all I can promise. These, 
be the voyage long or short, shall never forsake me, 
although I may be deserted by all men ; for, of the 
consolations which are to be derived from these, 
under any circumstances, the world cannot deprive 
me." 

His election was announced to him at Mount 
Vernon, on the 14th of April, 1789, by Charles 
Thompson, Secretary of the late Congress ; and 
two days afterward he set out to assume the duties 
of government, accompanied by Mr. Thompson and 
Colonel Humphreys. In his diary he has thus 
described his feelings upon this eventful occasion: 
" About ten o'clock, I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, 
to private life, and to domestic felicity, and, with a 
mind ojjpressed with more anxious and painful sensa- 
tions than I have words to express, set out for New 
York in company with Mr. Thompson and Colonel 
Humphreys, with the best dispositions to render 
service to my country, in obedience to its call, hut 
with less hope of answering its expectations.'' 

We have already adverted to the two great parties 
into which the country was divided ; one in favor 
of the sovereignty of the States, and the other inclin- 
ing to invest the federal government with powers so 



214 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

absolute and unlimited, as to make the Union para- 
mount, and reduce the States to entire subserviency 
to the Union ; one being in favor of the nation — 
the other giving the preference to a cluster of inde- 
pendent republics. Hence a wide contrariety of 
opinion necessarily prevailed as to the measures to be 
adopted to sesure union without endangering liberty. 

Many of the officers of the army had been elected 
to the Congress of 1783, and these formed the head 
of that party which inclined to invest supreme 
power in the federal government. 

At the head of this party, for such it indubitably 
was, stood Washington and Hamilton, both unsur- 
passed in genius and talent — unrivaled in purity and 
patriotism. 

"We have alluded to the manner in which the 
military attitude of Washington and his contact with 
the civil power had gradually invited him into 
speculations on government peculiar to the practical 
statesman ; and that sad experience of the evils of a 
relaxed system of polity had deeply imbued his 
mind in favor of that high-toned authority which 
approves of martial discipline and vigor. In ac- 
cordance with these ideas, prompted by his extreme 
solicitude for the good of his country, he addressed, 
on the 8th of June, 1783, a cii'cular letter to the 
governors of the several States respectively, from 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 215 

which we introduce the following extracts. Speak- 
ing of the option of government left to the United 
States, he says: "This is the time of their politi- 
cal probation ; this is the moment when the 
eyes of the whole world are turned upon them ; 
this is the moment to establish or ruin their na- 
tional character forever; this is the favorable mo- 
ment to give such a tone to our federal government 
as will enable it to answer the ends of its institu- 
tion, or this may be the ill-fated moment for relax- 
ing the powers of the Union, annihilating the ce- 
ment of the confederation and exposing us to become 
the sport of European politics, which may play one 
State against another to prevent their growing im- 
portance, and to serve their own interested purposes. 
For, according to the system of policy the States 
shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall; 
and by their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be 
decided whether the Revolution must ultimately 
be considered as a blessing or a curse — a blessing or 
a curse, not to the present age alone, for with 
our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be in- 
volved. 

"There are four things which I humbly conceive 
are essential to the well-being, I may even venture to 
say to the existence of the United States as an in- 
dependent power. 



216 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

" 1st. Au iiidissoluhle Union of the States under 
one federal head. 

" 2d. A sacred regard to public justice. 

" 3d. The adoption of a proper peace establish- 
ment; and 

" 4th. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly 
disposition among the people of the United States, 
which will iriduce them to forget their local prejudices 
and politics, to inahe those mutual concessions ivhich 
are requisite to the general prosperity, and in some in- 
stances to sacrifice their individual advantages to the 
interest of the community. 

" These are the pillars on which the glorious 
fabric of our independency and national character 
must be supported. Liberty is the basis, and who- 
ever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn 
the structure, under whatever specious pretext he 
may attempt it, will merit the bitterest execration, 
and the severest puishment which can be inflicted 
by his injured country." 

Such sentiments as these not only ennoble and 
dignify, but immortalize their author; and whatever 
prejudices he may have cherished in favor of a vig- 
orous authority in the Union, they were more than 
atoned for by the purity of his patriotism, and by 
the exalted honesty of his purposes. 

Again in the same letter, breathing nothing but 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 217 

the loftiest patriotism, be says : " It is only in our 
united character that we are known as an empire, 
that our independence is acknowledged, that our 
power can be regarded, or our credit supported 
among foreign nations. The treaties of the Eu- 
ropean powers with the United States of America 
will have no validity on a dissolution of the Union. 
"We shall be left nearly in a state of nature, or wo 
may find, by our own unhappy experience, that there 
is a natural and necessary progression from the ex- 
treme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny, and 
that arbitrary power is most easily established on 
the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness." 

Other and stronger letters from his friends in dif- 
ferent sections of the Union pressed him upon the 
same point; and among other reasons urged by his 
friend Colonel Lee, was the apprehension that the 
rally of the enemies of the Constitution, which was 
made in the several States in opposition to the new 
Constitution, would certainly prove but too success- 
ful were any other less popular character placed in 
the presidential chair. 

In his reply to the letter of Colonel Lee, General 
Washington remarks: "Your observations, on the 
solemnity of the crisis and its application to myself, 
bring before me subjects of the most momentous 
and interesting nature. In our endeavors to estab- 
19 



ri8 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

lish a new general government, the contest, nation- 
ally considered, seems not to have been so much for 
glory as existence. It was for a long time doubtful 
whether we were to survive as an independent re- 
public, or decline from our federal dignity into 
insignificant and wretched fragments of empire. 
The adoption of the Constitution so extensively, 
and with so liberal an acquiescence on the part of 
the minorities in general, promised the former; but 
lately the circular letter of New York has mani- 
fested, in my apprehension, an unfavorable, if not 
an insidious tendency to a contrary policy. I still 
hope for the best ; but before you mentioned it, I 
could not help fearing it would serve as a standard 
to which the disaffected might resort. It is now 
evidently the part of all honest men, who are friends 
to the new Constitution, to endeavor to give it a 
chance to disclose its merits and defects, by carry- 
ing it fairly into effect in the first instance." 

The oath of ofiice was administered to the Presi- 
dent by Mr. Livingston, Chancellor of the State of 
New York, in that city, in presence of an immense 
concourse of people. John Adams of Massachu- 
setts, had been chosen Vice-President. Immediately 
retiring to the senate chamber, "W^ashington ad- 
dressed both Houses in an impressive and appro- 
priate speech. He renounced all pecuniary com 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 219 

pensatiou for his services, as he had clone as com- 
mander-in-chief of the Continental army, charging 
the government only for his actual expenses. He 
stated briefly the principles which should guide 
him in the administration of public affairs, and 
commended the interests of his country to the bless- 
ing of Heaven. 

The responses of the several Houses were appro- 
priate, and in part as follows : 

In their answer to his speech the Senate say : " The 
unanimous suffrage of the elective body in your 
favor is peculiarly expressive of the gratitude, con- 
fidence, and affection 6f the citizens of America, and 
is the highest testimonial at once of your merit and 
their esteem. We are sensible, sir, that nothing 
but the voice of your fellow-citizens could have 
called you from a retreat chosen with the fondest 
predilection, endeared by habit, and consecrated to 
the repose of declining years. We rejoice, and with 
us all America, that in obedience to the call of our 
common country you have returned once more to 
public life. In you all parties confide ; in you all 
interests unite ; and we have no doubt that your past 
services, great as they have been, will be equaled 
by your future exertions ; and that your prudence 
and sagacity as a statesman will tend to avert the 
dangers to which we were exposed, to give stability 



220 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

to the present government, and dignity and splen- 
dor to that country which your skill and valor as a 
soldier so eminently contributed to raise to inde- 
pendence and to empire." 

The answer of the House of Keprescntatives 
glowed with equal affection for the person and cha- 
racter of the President. 

" The representatives of the people of the United 
States," says this address, "present their congratu- 
lations on tlie event by which your fellow-citizens 
have attested the pre-eminence of your merit. You 
have long held the first place in their esteem. You 
have often received tokens of their affection. You 
now possess the only proof that remained of their 
gratitude for your services, of their reverence for 
your wisdom, and of their confidence in your vir- 
tues. You enjoy the highest because the truest 
honor, of being the first magistrate by the unani- 
mous choice of the freest people on the face of the 
earth." 

The government being thus inaugurated, Wash- 
ington proceeded to nominate the otficers of his 
cabinet. From his letter already quoted it may 
justly be inferred that his selections were made 
freely, deliberatel}-, and with a regard onl}^ to the 
merits of the candidates and their ability to pro- 
mote the public welfare. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 221 

Thomas Jefferson was placed at tlie head of the 
tlepartmeiit of Foreign Affairs, now denominated 
the Department of State. Colonel Hamilton was 
appointed Secretary of the Treasury. General Knox 
was made Secretary of War. Edmund Randolph 
was chosen Attorney-General. John Rutledge, 
John Wilson, William Gushing, Robert Harrison, 
and John Blair were designated as Justices of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. John Jay 
was selected to fill the high post of Chief 
Justice. 

In the peculiar circumstances of financial want and 
derangement in which the nation was then placed, 
the most important post in the cabinet was that 
assigned by the impartial and discerning choice of 
Washington to Mr. Hamilton, then aged thirty-two 
years. On him devolved the ponderous task of re- 
btoring public credit, of introducing order and 
arrangement into that vast mass of chaos in which 
the finances of the nation had been thrown by the 
struggles and losses of the Revolution, and its suc- 
ceeding jealousies and strifes. He was expected to 
devise means to obtain a revenue at once ample 
and secure; and yet to secure it without imposing 
serious burdens on the people, and without exciting 
hostility and jealousy against the new government 
in any portion of the antagonistic States. A more 
19* 



222 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

herculean and difficult undertaking than this could 
not possibly be imagined or imposed. 

Hamilton entered upon the performance of his 
new duties with his usual industry, sagacity, and 
success. On the 21st of September, 1789, Congress 
passed a resolution to the effect that the Secretary 
of the Treasury should submit a report containing a 
plan for the support of the public credit. In this 
able report he held, that it was agreed by all parties 
that the foreign debt should be provided for accord- 
ing to the precise terms of the contract ; and it was 
to be regretted that, in reference to the domestic 
debt, the same unanimity of sentiment did not 
prevail. 

He discussed at length the disputed point, 
whether a discrimination ought to be made between 
original holders of the public securities and the 
present possessors by purchase. He contended that 
no such discrimination should be made. He next 
proceeded to the inquiry whether any difference 
ought to be made between the creditors of the 
Union and those of the separate States; and held 
that no such difference should exist. He asserted 
that "both descriptions of debt w^ere contracted for 
the same objects, and were in the main the same."* 

• See Works of Alexander Hamilton, by his Son. Vol. II. p. 200, 
et seq. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 223 

Equity required the same measure of retribution for 
all. He declared that many potent reasons existed 
why the State debts contracted for such objects 
should be assumed by the federal government. He 
proceeded into an elaborate discussion of all the 
points of his subject ; and proposed as a remedy for 
the existing debts that a loan should be opened to 
the full amount of the liabilities, both those of the 
States and of the general government. To enable 
the national treasury to support the increased de- 
mand which was thus made upon it, he proposed 
an increase of the duties on imported wines, spirits, 
tea, and coffee, as well as a duty on home-made 
spirits. 

This report of Hamilton's is justly regarded as 
one of his ablest efforts. It called forth at the time 
the most extravagant praise and the most bitter 
censure. And it especially deserves attention inas- 
much as the opposition which was directed against 
its adoption, constitutes the foundation of the first 
systematic resistance to the principles on which the 
government was then administered. On the 8th of 
February, Mr. Fitzsimmons proposed several resolu- 
tions in support of the principles asserted in the 
report. The first of these referred to a provision 
for the foreign debt, and was adopted by the House 
unanimously. The second was in favor of appro- 



224 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

priatmg permanent funds for the payment of the 
interest of the domestic debt, and for the gradual 
redemption of the principal. This resolution called 
forth the most determined opposition. It was as- 
serted that the United States were not under obli- 
gation to pay their domestic creditors the sums 
specified in their certificates of debt; because the 
original holders had parted with them for two shil- 
lings, sixpence in the pound. It was proposed by 
others, that the federal government should pay the 
present holders of assignable paper the highest 
price it had borne in the market, and to give the 
balance to the original holder. This proposi- 
tion, after a long debate, was rejected by a large 
majority. 

The report of Hamilton also recommended that 
the federal government should assume all those 
' debts which the individual States had incurred dur- 
ing the war, for the support of it. When the army 
had demanded compensation for the depreciation 
of their pay, this burden, at the earnest request of 
Congress, had been assumed by the respective States. 
Some of the States had funded this debt, and had 
paid the interest on it. Others had made no provi- 
sion for the payment of the interest. But all had 
done something, by way of taxes, paper money, or 
purchase, to diminish the principal. These debts 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 225 

Hamilton now proposed should be resumed by 
Congress. The resolution which was offered in 
the House, having reference to this portion of the 
secretary's report, unchained the fiercest passions 
of men, and convulsed the representatives of the 
people, and the nation itself, with strange and un- 
seemly violence ; for it held that these State debts 
ought to be assumed by the general government. 
It was condemned on various grounds. Its uncon- 
stitutionality was loudly asserted. It was affirmed that 
by this assumption the general government would 
acquire a dangerous and preponderating power, and 
that the consequence and influence of the State go- 
vernments would be perniciously diminished. 

After a long and fierce discussion, the resolution 
was finally carried by a small majority. But very 
soon after its passage the representatives from the 
State of North Carolina arrived, and took their 
seats in Congress. The resolution was then recom- 
mitted, and then after another protracted debate it 
was lost by a small majority. It was afterward 
brought forward again under the modified form of 
allowing the general government to assume specific 
sums from each State ; but this attempt also failed, 
and the bill was finally sent to the Senate, containing 
a provision for those creditors only whose certificates 



226 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of debt purported to be payable by tbc United 
States. 

After the defeat of General St. Clair in the war 
for tbe defense of the northwest frontier, against the 
Miami Indians, Washington recommended the aug- 
mentation of the national forces. This proposition 
created the most furious and bitter hostility; but was 
finally passed. The increased expenses of the war thus 
demanded an increase of the revenue ; and the com- 
mittee to whom the subject was referred, offered a 
resolution directing the Secretaiy of the Treasury 
to report his opinion as to the best method of rais- 
ing those supplies which the increased expenses of 
the government demanded. 

Mr. Hamilton accordingly made his report. He 
recommended an increase of the duties on the im- 
ports. This report was referred to a committee of 
the whole House in which resolutions were passed, 
which were intended to form the basis of a bill. 
Hamilton had recommended that the aj^propriation 
of funds for the payment of the interest and the 
gradual redemption of the principal of the national 
debt, should be not only sufficient but also perma- 
nent. After a full discussion, thirty-one members 
voted in favor of limiting the duration of the bill, 
and thirty against it. The motion was lost by the 
vote of the Speaker of the House. 



f OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 227 

It was during the progress of the year 1790 that 
the irreconcilable hostility arose between Mr. Jef- 
ferson, the Secretary of State, and Mr. Hamilton. 
Their differences originated at an early stage of the ^ 
administration, and they grew in fierceness with 
the progress of time. It may have arisen, in the 
first instance, from personal dislike and jealousy 
between those distinguished men, and from minor 
difterences in their policy. But soon their measures 
became so widely incongruous, that it seems strange 
that they could have acted with any efliciency in 
the same Cabinet. Mr. Jeflterson probably felt the 
overshadowing power of Hamilton's genius, and the 
effect of his supreme influence with the President. 
Mr. Jefferson was an ultra democrat. He enter- 
tained no fears as to the stability of the government. 
He had the most unbounded confidence of the abi- 
lity of the masses to rule themselves. He thought 
that the people could not err. He felt no appre- 
hensions of the undue encroachments of the popu- 
lar power; no jealousy of the State sovereignties 
curtailing the authority of the central or federal go- 
vernment. His constant policy, like that of Gover- 
nor George Clinton of New York, seems to have 
been to limit and hamper the exercise of the powers 
vested in the government of the United States, as 
being the only possible source whence danger to 



228 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tlie liberties of the people miglit arise. On the 
contrary, Mr. Hamilton was the firm advocate of a 
general government which should possess in itself 
stiificient powers and resources to maintain the 
credit and secure the unity and prosperity of the 
whole nation. He had long ohserved the evils which 
resulted from the absolute sovereignty of the States, 
and of the injury which resulted from their dispo- 
sition and ability to exercise a pernicious control 
over every measure of the general government. 
He also thought that the habits and feelings of the 
American people were then calculated to inspire 
prepossessions in favor of State interests, rather 
than the national welfare. 

This schism in the members of the administra- 
tion was loudly supported by their respective par- 
tisans of the press. The G-azette of the United 
States defended the policy of Hamilton. The Na- 
tional Gfazette, edited by a clerk in the Department 
of State, was arrayed on the side of Mr. Jefferson. 
The minor papers of the country took sides with 
the one or the other of these great journals, accord-^ 
ing to their respective views. This discord in his 
cabinet was a source of much regret and sorrow to 
Washington. He foresaw its consequences, but 
was unable to heal the difficulty. The whisky 
insurrection in the western part of Pennsylvania, 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 229 

resulted from the high state of excitement which 
then pervaded the public mind in reference to the 
execution of the laws imposing a duty on spirits 
distilled within the United States. 

On the 5th IlsTovember, 1790, Congress again con- 
vened. Shortly after its opening a motion was 
made to the effect, that measures for the reduction 
of so much of the public debt as the United States 
have a right to redeem ought to be adopted ; and 
that the Secretary of the Treasuiy be directed to 
report a plan for that purpose. In his report, in 
response to this order, Hamilton proposed that the 
internal taxes should be extended either to plea- 
sure horses or to pleasure carriages, as the legisla- 
ture might consider most suitable. 

On the 13th December, 1790, Hamilton submitted 
to Congress his views in reference to the establish- 
ment of a National Bank, in accordance with a call v^ 
made on him by that body upon the subject. In 
that report every argument which was adapted to 
prove the utility and expediency of such an insti- 
tution was most ably and clearly set forth. His 
report was indeed so profound, and so completely 
exhausted the whole subject, that all the discus- 
sions which have since taken place in reference to 
it, are merely variations and reiterations of what 
he himself advanced. Many arguments were used 
20 



230 THE ]>IFE AND TIMES 

against the adoption of bis proposition. It was 
held to be decisive against it, tbat no express au- 
tbority bad been given to tbe general government 
to create a bank. Tbe constitutionality of such an 
institution was denied. Mr. Madison was tbe cbief 
opponent of tbe bank ; and yet it may be observed, 
tbat afterward, wben President of tbe United 
States, be bimself frequently recommended tbe 
establisbment of similar institutions as tbe only re- 
medy for tbe financial troubles of tbe community, 
and bimself signed tbe cbarter of tbe second Bank 
of tbe United States. The cbarter of tbe bank 
proposed by Hamilton at leugtb passed botb Houses 
of Congress; it tben received tbe approval of Wasb- 
ington ; and bas since been indorsed by tbe favor- 
able legal judgments of Cbief Justices Jay, Ellswortb, 
and Marsball. Tbe first Bank of tbe United States 
was chartered for twenty years. Its capital was ten 
millions, in shares of four hundred dollars each. 
The installment certificates were in such great de- 
mand that they rose to an advance of two hundred 
dollars, on the first payment of twenty-five dollars. 
Branches, under the titles of oflices of discount and 
deposit, were established in the cbief cities of the 
United States. Tbe cbief bank was located in 
Philadelphia, at tbat time the seat of the federal 
government. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 231 

The debate on this question again arrayed par- 
ties in fierce opposition, and even divided the cabi- 
net to a degree that menaced its total rupture. 
"Washington took the opinion of his constitutional 
advisers on this important question. Mr. Jefi'erson 
and Mr. Eandolph were of opinion that Congress, 
by the passage of the bill, had obviously trans- 
cended the powers vested in them by the constitu- 
tion. On the other hand, General Hamilton main- 
tained it to be purely constitutional. The President 
required from each their arguments in writing, which 
being submitted, his habitual propensity to add 
vigor to the Union, inclined him to the conviction 
that the bank was fully authorized by the Constitu- 
tion, and he accordingly gave the sanction of his 
signature to the act of incorporation. It cannot be 
doubted, however, that his mind had been long pre- 
determined in favor of the measure ; and that how- 
ever he might hold his judgment open to a convic- 
tion of its illegality, should it be made so to appear 
to him ; yet that his wishes and aifections toward 
it, as a favorite feature of his federal policy, had 
closed those avenues to conviction which can only 
bias the understanding when the feelings are neutral, 
and the desires uninfluenced toward a particular 
conclusion. 

The controversy on Federal Power and State 



232 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Rights was now started afresh on the Bank question ; 
and federalism and anti-federalism were discussed 
through all their aspects by enthusiastic champions ; 
the sovereignty of the States being supposed by 
the latter to constitute the palladium of liberty; 
and the supremacy and power of the Union being 
deemed essential by the latter to the preservation of 
law, order, justice, property, subordination, and peace. 

The scheme of the National Bank was hailed with 
rapture by those who had become suddenly en- 
riched by the funding of the public debt ; and in 
proportion as it strengthened the moneyed interest, 
did it provoke the hostility and censure of the mid- 
dle and poorer classes, in whom are often to be 
found the sincere advocates of the true principles of 
rational liberty. 

From this moment of the incorporation of the 
Bank of the United States, parties thenceforth as- 
sumed their perfect forms of organization and prin- 
ciples. 

From this period also we may date an irre- 
concilable rupture between Mr. Jefferson and 
General Hamilton ; the former the vigorous oppo- 
nent, and the latter the resolute advocate, of the 
banking and funding system. 

Washington now made an excursion into the 
Southern States, subsequently to the dissolution of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON". 233 

the first Congress, on the 3d of March, 1791; where 
his reception by men of all parties, proved the fact 
that he united all hearts; and that however the 
measures or the Constitution of government might 
be censured and disapproved, none would refnsc to 
pour the grateful homage of their hearts into the 
bosom of their veteran chief. 

The second Congress assembled in Philadelphia 
on the 24th of October, 1791. The apportionment 
bill now proved another cause of excitement, and 
divided parties by a broad line of separation. In 
this debate Mr. Giles, who was in favor of a full 
representation of the people, used these arguments ; 
that the corruption of the British parliament was 
not owing to their numbers^ but other causes, and 
" among these were the frequent mortgages of the 
funds, and the immense appropriations at the disposal 
of the executive." " An inequality of circumstances," 
he continued, "produces revolutions in govern- 
ments, from democracy to aristocracy and monarchy. 
Great wealth produces a desire of distinctions, rank 
and titles. The revolutions of property in this 
country have created a prodigious inequality of cir- 
cumstances. Government has contributed to this 
inequality. The Bank of the United States is a 
most important machine in promoting the objects of 
this moneyed interest. This bank will be the most 
20* 



234 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

powerful engine to corrupt this House. Some of 
the members are directors of this institution ; and 
it will only be by increasing the representation that 
an adequate barrier can be opposed to this moneyed 
interest. The strong executive of this govern- 
ment ought to be balanced by a full representation 
in this House." 

The defeat of General St. Clair, who had been 
dispatched against the hostile Miami Indians, now 
threw a momentary gloom over the administration 
of Washington ; and Congress proceeded to aug- 
ment the army to five thousand men ; after which on 
the 8th of May, 1792, that body adjourned to the 
first Monday in November. 

Every day added virulence and asperity to the 
opposition of parties; and as new measures de- 
veloped more fully the discrepancy of their princi- 
ples, so did they augment the inveteracy of their 
mutual dislike ; and while we confess the truth, we 
must also deplore the fact, that the power of interest 
rather than the love of truth, or the practice of 
virtue, engendered their animosity, and eventually 
exasperated differences of opinion into an implacable 
hostility of feeling and passion. 

The complaints of the opposition, however, were 
not destitute of some substantial and established facts 
to sustain them. The creation of the national debtj by 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 235 

the funding of the depreciated public responsibili- 
ties, had engendered, it was alleged, a necessity for 
taxation on the people, when there existed no neces- 
sity for funding, in order to make the rich more 
affluent and the poor more needy; besides being 
the assumption of a debt which properly belonged to 
the individual States. Funding naturally led to ex- 
cise, and begat a series of oppressive taxes which 
excited public clamor, and might produce a civil 
war ; besides which such taxes were partial in their 
operation, and must be unproductive unless extorted 
by arbitrary means, and wrung from the hand of 
labor at the point of the sword. In truth the 
gro^md of opposition included the best principles of 
humanity, benevolence, peace, and industry, against 
abstract equity, rigid justice, and the inflexible 
severity of efficient power, ready to punish with 
death for the inability to comply with exorbitant 
demands. 

Other grounds of opposition were also advanced, 
but were less tenable and more resolvable into the 
spirit of party than based on the solid principles of 
liberty, or the incontestable dictates of reason. A 
qualified exception, however, must be made to this 
remark in the case of the Bank of the United 
States ; and in order to escape any imputation of 
prejudice, we shall cite, in the words of Judge Mar- 



236 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

shall himself, as we have previously done on several 
occasions from the same motive. 

The opposition contended that : " The banish- 
ment of coin would be completed by ten millions of 
paper money in the form of bank bills, which were 
then issuing into circulation. Nor would this be 
the only mischief resulting from the institution of 
the bank. The ten or twelve per cent, annual profit 
paid to the lenders of this paper medium, would be 
taken out of the pockets of the people, who would 
have had without interest, the coin it was banish- 
ing; that all the capital employed in paper circu- 
lation is barren and useless, producing like that on 
a gaming table, no accession to itself, and is with-, 
drawn from commerce and agriculture, where it 
would have produced addition to the common mass. 
The wealth, therefore, heaped upon individuals by 
the funding and banking systems would be produc- 
tive of general poverty and distress ; and that in ad- 
dition to the encouragement these measures gave to 
vice and idleness, they had furnished effectual 
means of corrupting such a portion of the Legisla- 
ture as turned the balance between the honest 
voters. This corrupt squadron deciding the voice 
of the Legislature, had manifested their dispositions 
to get rid of the limitations imposed \ij the Consti- 
tution ; limitations on the faith of which the States 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 237 

acceded to that instrument. They were pro- 
ceeding rapidly in their plan of absorbing all 
power, invading the rights of the States, and con- 
verting the federal into a consolidated govern- 
ment. 

" That the ultimate object of all this was to pre- 
pare the way for a change from the present repub- 
lican form of government to that of a monarchy, 
of which the English constitution was to be the 
model. So many of the friends of monarchy were 
in the Legislature, that aided by the corrupt squad 
of paper dealers who were at their devotion, they 
had a majority in both Houses. The republican 
'party, even when united with the anti-federalists, 
continued a minority." These arguments were ably 
replied to on the opposite side. 

These grave charges and imputations, however, 
were not so much intended to apply to Washington 
and his measures, as to Colonel Hamilton, the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury and the ostensible head of the 
consolidated federal party. 

In respect to General Washington, the purity of 
his heart and character repelled the approximation 
of the foul elements of party. His views were na- 
tional ; every pulsation of his heart was for his coun- 
try's good ; and being exalted above the influence of 
interest by every consideration of character and popu- 



238 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

larity with the whole people, it was utterly impossi- 
ble that any party could claim him as its sole leader, 
or that any of his measures or views could be re- 
ferred or traced to party motives. K he did enter- 
tain one supreme sentiment, it was an honest one, 
and that was a candid preference for a government 
of law and force to a government of opinion — a con- 
viction which may be traced to the fact, that he 
acquired his education under the strict notions of 
the monarchy, and contracted his habits in the em- 
ployment of the royal government as a military man : 
— being still not less a republican in principle — nc»r 
less an American in practice. 

These conflicts of party opinions would have been 
overlooked by Washington and wholly disregarded, 
had they not invaded the tranquillity of his cabinet ; 
and arrayed in fierce hostility the Secretary of State 
against the Secretary of the Treasury. These officers, 
from the first moment of their entrance into the cabi- 
net, had disagreed upon principles of essential im- 
portance to the harmony of the administration. This 
radical contrariety in their characters and views, 
naturally became augmented with the lapse of time ; 
— and every measure of government conduced more 
or less to widen the breach, as they more clearly 
demonstrated the irreconcilable hostility of their 
doctrines, measures and opinions. Mr. Jefferson had 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 239 

been from tlie first a warm champion of liberty, 
and opposed to tlie federal Constitution as imply- 
ing a power or supremacy over the sovereignty of 
the States ; and General Hamilton was the most 
prominent of those who favored a federal govern- 
ment, whose power should supersede opinion, and 
moderate the rights of the States. On the same 
principle Mr. Jefferson was partial to France, and 
Mr. Hamilton partial to England ; and inimical to 
France, as Mr. Jefferson was hostile to England, 
and her monarchical tendencies. 

To trace all the forms of this hostility is not con- 
sistent with the object of this biography. As it 
affected Washington, it caused him the deepest 
mortification and chagrin ; so much so as to draw 
from him the following letters to the Secretary of 
State and Secretary of the Treasury, conceived in 
the purest spirit of patriotism, and breathing the 
fond affection of a father toward his children. The 
first letter bears the date of August 23d, 1792. 
Having entered into a review of the delicate exter- 
nal relations of the United States, he thus digressed 
to the main topic of his epistle: — "How unfortu- 
nate, and how much is it to be regretted, then, that 
while we are encompassed on all sides with avowed 
enemies and insidious friends, internal dissensions 
should be harrowing and tearing our vitals. The 



240 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

last, to me, is the most serious, the most alarming, 
and the most afflicting of the two ; and without 
more charity for the opinions of one another in 
governmental matters, or some more infallible crite- 
rion by which the truth of speculative opinions, be- 
fore they have undergone the test of experience, are 
to be forejudged, than has yet fallen to the lot of 
fallibility, I believe it will be difficult, if not imprac- 
ticable, to manage the reins of government, or to 
keep the parts of it together ; for if, instead of lay- 
ing our shoulders to the machine, after measures 
are decided on, one pulls this way and another 
that, before the utility of the thing is fairly tried, 
it must inevitably be torn asunder; and, in my 
opinion, the fairest prospect of happiness and pros- 
perity that ever was presented to man, will be lost, 
perhaps forever. 

" My earnest wish and my fondest hope there- 
fore is, that instead of wounding suspicions and 
irritating charges, there may be liberal allowances, 
mutual forbearances, and temporizing, yielding on 
all sides. Under the exercise of these, matters will 
go on smoothly, and if possible more prosperously. 
Without them, every thing must rub, the wheels of 
government will clog, our enemies will triumph, 
and by throwing their weight into the disaffected 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 241 

scale, may accomplisli the ruin of the goodly fabric 
we have been erecting. 

" I do not mean to apply this advice, or these 
obsei-vations, to any particular person or character. 
I have given them in the same general terms to 
other officers of the government, because the dis- 
agreements which have arisen from diflerence of 
opinions, and the attacks which have been made 
upon almost all the measures of government, and 
most of its executive officers have for a long time 
past filled me with painful sensations, and cannot 
fail, I think, of producing unhappy consequences at 
home and abroad." The letter to General Hamil- 
ton was almost an exact copy of this to Mr. Jefferson. 
Another was also addressed by him to Mr. Randolph, 
the Attorney-General. 

As some curiosity may naturally be felt to see 
the report of Mr. Jefferson upon the Bank of the 
United States, and as it is to be found in but few 
works easily accessible to the general reader, we 
here extract it. 

" The Bill for establishing a National Bank, under- 
takes among other things, 

" Ist. To form the subscribers into a corporation. 

" 2d. To enable them in their corporate capacities 
to receive grants of land, and so far, is against the 
laws oi mortmain. 
21 



242 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

" 8d. To make alien subscribers capable of hold- 
ing lands; and so far is against the laws of 
alienage. 

"4th. To transmit these lands on the death of a 
proprietor, to a certain line of successors ; and so far 
changes the course of descents. 

" 5th. To put the lands out of the reach of forfei- 
ture or escheat ; and so far, is against the laws of 
forfeiture and escheat. 

" 6th. To transmit personal chattels to successors 
in a certain line ; and so far is against the laws of 
distribution. 

" 7th. To give them the sole and exclusive right of 
banking under the national authority ; and so far, is 
against the laws of monopoly. 

•'8th. To communicate to them a power to make 
laws paramount to the laws of the States; for so 
they must be construed to protect the institution 
from the control of the State legislatures ; and so, 
probably, they will be construed. 

"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as 
laid on the ground that 'all powers not delegated 
to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 
States or to the people.' (Twelth amendment.) 
To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus 
specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 243 

to take possession of a boundless field of power, no 
longer susceptible of any definition. 

" The incorporation of a bank, and the powers as- 
sumed by tbis bill, bave not, in my opinion, beet? 
delegated to tbe United States by tbe Constitution. 

" I. Tbey are not among tbe powers specially enu- 
merated. For tliese are, 

" 1. A power to lay taxes for tbe purpose of pay- 
ing the debts of tbe United States ; but no debt is 
paid by this bill, nor any tax laid. "Were it a bill 
to raise money, its origination in tbe Senate would 
condemn it by tbe Constitution. 

"2. To 'borrow money.' But tbis bill neither 
borrows money, nor insures the borrowing of it. 
The proprietors of the bank will be just as free as 
any other money holders, to lend or not to lend 
their money to the public. The operation proposed 
in the bill, first to lend them two millions, and then 
borrow them back again, cannot change the nature 
of the latter act, which will still be a payment, and 
not a loan, call it by what name you please. 

" 3. ' To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
and among the States, and with the Indian tribes.' 
To erect a bank, and to regulate commerce, are very 
different acts. He who erects a bank, creates a 
subject of commerce in its bills : so does he who 
makes a bushel of wheat, or who digs a dollar out 



244 THF LIFE AND TIMES 

of the mines. Yet neither of these persons regu- 
late commerce thereby. To make a thing which 
may be bought and sold, is not to prescribe regu- 
lations for buying and selling. Besides, if this were 
an exercise of the power of regulating commerce, 
it would be void, as extending as much to the in- 
ternal commerce of every State, as to its external. 
For the power given to Congress by the Constitu- 
tion, does not extend to the internal regulation of 
the commerce of a State, (that is to say, of the 
commerce between citizen and citizen,) which re- 
mains exclusively with its own legislature, but to 
its external commerce only ; that is to say, its com- 
merce with another State, or with foreign nations, 
or with the Indian tribes. Accordingly, the bill 
does not propose the measure as a ' regulation of 
trade,' but as 'productive of considerable advan- 
tage to trade.' 

" Still less are these powers covered by any other 
of the special enumerations. 

"II. Nor are they within either of the general 
phrases, which are the two following: 

" 1. To lay taxes to provide for the general wel- 
fare of the United States; that is to say, 'to lay 
taxes for the purpose of providing for the general 
welfare.' For the laying of taxes is the power, and 
the general welfare the purpose, for which the power 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 245 

is to be exercised. Congress are not to lay taxes 
ad libitum, for any purpose tliey please ; but only to 
pay the debts, or provide for the welfare of the Union , 
In like manner, they are not to do any thing they 
pdease, to provide for the general welfare, but only 
to lay taxes for that purpose. To consider the lat- 
ter phrase, not as describing the purpose of the first, 
but as giving a distinct and independent power to 
do any act they please, which might be for the good 
of the Union, would render all the preceding and 
subsequent enumerations of power completely use- 
less. It would reduce the whole instrument to a 
single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with 
power to do whatever would be for the good of the 
United States; and as they would be the sole judges 
of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do 
whatever evil they pleased. It is an established 
rule of construction, where a phrase will bear either 
of two meanings, to give it that which will allow 
some meaning to the other parts of the. instrument, 
and not that which will render all the others use- 
less. Certainly, no such universal power was meant 
to be given them. It was intended to lace them up 
straightly within the enumerated powers, and those 
without which, as means, these powers could not be 
carried into effect. It is known that the very power 
now proposed as a means was rejected as an end by 
21* 



246 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the Convention whicli formed the Constitution. A 
proposition was made to them to authorize Con- 
gress to open canals, and an emendatory one to 
empower them to incorporate; but the whole was 
rejected, and one of the reasons of rejection urged 
in debate was, that they then would have a power 
to erect a bank, which would render the great cities, 
where there were prejudices and jealousies on that 
subject, adverse to the reception of the Constitu- 
tion. 

"2. The second general phrase is, 'to make all 
laws necessary and proper for carrying into execu- 
tion the enumerated powers.' But they can all be 
carried into execution without a bank. A bank, 
therefore, is not necessary^ and consequently, not 
authorized by this phrase. 

"It has been much urged, that a bank will give 
great facility or convenience in the collection of 
taxes. Suppose this were true ; yet the Constitu- 
tion allows only the means which are ' necessary,' 
not those which are merely convenient, for effect- 
ing the enumerated powers. If such a latitude of 
construction be allowed to this phrase, as to give 
any non-enumerated power, it will go to every one ; 
for there is no one which ingenuity may not torture 
into a convenience in some way or other to some one 
of so long a list of enumerated powers. It would 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 247 

swallow up all the delegated powers, and reduce 
the whole to one phrase, as before observed. There- 
fore it was that the Constitution restrained them to 
the necessary means, that is to say, to those means 
without which the grant of the power would be nu- 
gatory. ^ 

"But let us examine this 'convenience,' and see 
what it is. The report on this subject, (page 2,) states 
the only general convenience to be, the preventing 
the transportation and retransportation of money be- 
tween the States and the treasury. (For I pass over 
the increase of the circulating medium ascribed to it 
as a merit, and which, according to my ideas of paper 
money, is clearly a demerit.) Every State will have 
to pay a sum of tax money into the treasury ; and 
the treasury will have to pay, in every State, a part 
of the interest on the public debt, and salaries to 
the officers of government resident in that State. 
In most of the States there will still be a surplus 
of tax money to come up to the seat of government 
for the officers residing there. The payments of 
interest and salary in each State may be made by 
treasury orders on the State collector. This will 
take up the greater part of the money he has col- 
lected in his State, and consequently prevent the 
great mass of it from being drawn out of the State. 
If there be a balance of commerce in favor of that 



248 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

State, against the one in which the government re- 
sides, the surplus of taxes will be remitted by the 
bills of exchange drawn from that commercial bal- 
ance. And so it must be if there were a bank. 
But if there be no balance of commerce, either di- 
rect or circuitous, all the banks in the world could 
not bring the surplus of taxes but in the form of 
money. Treasuiy orders, then, and bills of ex- 
change, may prevent the displacement of the main 
mass of the money collected, without the aid of any 
bank ; and where these fail, it cannot be prevented, 
even with that aid. 

" Perhaps, indeed, bank bills may be a more con- 
venient vehicle than treasury orders. But a little 
difference in the degree of convenience, cannot con- 
stitute the necessity which the Constitution makes 
the ground for assuming any non-enumerated 
power. 

" Besides, the existing banks will, without doubt, 
enter into arrangements for lending their agency, 
and the more favorable, as there will be a competi- 
tion among them for it. Whereas, this bill delivers 
us up bound to the National Bank, who are free to 
refuse all arrangements but on their own terms, and 
the public not free on such refusal to employ any 
other bank. That of Phihidelphia, I believe, now 
does this business by their post notes, which, by ar 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 249 

arrangement with the treasury, are paid by any 
State collector to whom they are presented. This 
expedient alone suffices to prevent the existence 
of that necessity which may justify the assumption 
of a non-enumerated power as a means for carrying 
into effect an enumerated one. The thing may be 
done, and has been done, and well done, without 
this assumption ; therefore it does not stand on 
that degree of necessity which can honestly jus- 
tify it. 

" It may be said that a bank whose bills would 
have a currency all over the States, would be more 
convenient than one whose currency is limited to a 
single State. So it would be still more convenient 
that there should be a bank whose bills should have 
a currency all over the world. But it does not fol- 
low from this superior conveniency, that there ex- 
ists any where a power to establish such a bank, or 
that the world may not go on very well without it. ' 

" Can it be thought that the Constitution intended 
that for a shade or two of convenience, more or less, 
Congress should be authorized to break down the 
most ancient and fundamental laws of the several 
States, such as those against mortmain, the laws of 
alienage, the rules of descent, the acts of distribu- 
tion, the laws of escheat and forfeiture, and the 
laws of monopoly ? Nothing but a necessity inviu- 



250 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

cible by any other means, can justify such a pros- 
tration of laws which constitute the pillars of our 
whole system of jurisprudence. Will Congress be 
too straight-laced to carry the Constitution into 
honest effect, unless they niay pass over the founda- 
tion laws of the State governments for the slightest 
convenience to theirs? 

"The negative of the President is the shield pro- 
vided by the Constitution, to protest against the 
invasions of the legislature ; first, the rights of the 
executive; second, of the judiciary; third, of the 
States and State legislatures. The present is the 
case of a right remaining exclusively with the States, 
and is, consequently, one of those intended by the 
Constitution to be placed under his protection. 

"It must be added, however, that unless the Presi- 
dent's mind, on a view of every thing which is 
urged for and against this bill, is tolerably clear that 
it is unauthorized by the Constitution, if the pro 
and the con hang so even as to balance his judg- 
ment, a just respect for the wisdom of the legisla- 
ture would naturally decide the balance in favor of 
their opinion. It is chiefly for cases where they are 
clearly misled by error, ambition, or interest, that 
the Constitution has placed a check in the negative 
of the President." 

The subsequent operation and success of the bank 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 251 

gave ample proof of the vast financial ability of 
Hamilton. Commerce was immensely increased. 
The intercourse between the respective States was 
greatly facilitated by an equalization of the ex- 
changes. The price of the public debt rose to its 
par value. The revenues of the government were 
placed beyond the possibility of plunder, and were 
distributed to the distant parts of the confederacy 
without expense to the government. Notwithstand- 
ing all this, the bank had many and fierce oppo- 
nents, even during the period of its untrammeled 
and therefore successful operation. The partisans of 
Hamilton became immensely wealthy from the in- 
crease of the value of the public stocks. He him- 
self remained comparatively poor. But his oppo- 
nents reviled him as the patron of moneyed 
monopolies, as the friend of the aristocracy, as the 
patron even of monarchy. Some adored him as the 
financial savior of the country ; some execrated him 
as the author of grievous evils, both present and to 
come. If ever any man experienced the utmost 
extremes of popular adulation and of popular hate, 
it was the founder of the first Bank of the United 
States. 

On the 4th of August, 1790, Congress passed 
an act, authorizing the President to borrow any 
sum not exceeding twelve millions of dollars to 



252 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

be applied to the payment of the foreign debt. 
Another act allowed him to obtain a loan not ex- 
ceeding two millions to be applied to the reduc- 
tion and extinguishment of the domestic debt. 

Washington delegated the power to contract 
these loans to Mr. Hamilton. His commission to 
do so was accompanied by written instructions, 
directing him to pay such portions of the foreign 
debt as should fall due at the end of the year 1791 ; 
but leaving him, in regard to the remainder, to be 
guided by what seemed to him to be promotive of 
the interest of the United States. In accordance 
with these instructions Hamilton negotiated two 
loans in 1790, and others at a subsequent date. 

At this period the domestic debt of the United 
States brought a low price in the market. Con- 
sequently foreign capital was directed into the 
country for its purchase. The immediate appro- 
priation of the sinking fund to this object, would 
require a large portion of the debt, and would 
naturally increase its appreciation. Accordingly 
Hamilton had, with the concurrence of "Washing- 
ton, directed a portion of the first loan to be paid 
in discharge of the installments of the foreign 
debt, which were actually due; and had drawn the 
rest of it into the treasury to be appropriated to 
the sinking fund for liquidating the domestic debt. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 253 

In the payment of the debt of the United Statea 
to France, a portion of it was converted into sup- 
plies for the island of St. Domingo, then suffering 
under great calamities. This was done in response 
to the application of the French minister. This 
method of payment was agreeable to both debtor 
and creditor, was in accordance with the dictates of 
humanity, and was every way equitable in itself. 

On the 23d of January, 1792, Mr. Giles proposed / 
in Congress resolutions requiring information in re- 
ference to the various items connected with these 
loans. In his speech he insinuated charges of a se- 
rious nature against the Secretary of the Treasury. 
lie intimated that a large balance of the moneys re- 
mained unaccounted for. The resolutions were 
agreed to, and in a short time Hamilton sent in his 
report containing full information in reference to all 
the points demanded. Foiled by the clearness and 
conclusiveness of the statements made and proved in 
this report, Mr. Giles changed his position. On the 
27th February he offered another series of resolutions. 
He abandoned the charge that a balance remained 
unaccounted for ; but condemned the Secretary for 
neglect of duty in violating the law of the 4th 
August, 1790, in deviating from the instructions of 
Washington in negotiating a loan at the bank while 
public moneys lay unappropriated in its vaults, and 
22 



254 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

\A ith indecorum to the House, in presuming to cen- 
sure its motives in the passage of the previous reso- 
lutions. A debate of great bitterness and fierceness 
ensued on the resolutions of Mr. Giles ; but it ter- 
minated, as it must needs have done, in the rejec- 
tion of all the resolutions, the highest number of 
representatives voting in their favor being only 
sixteen. 

In 1793 the second term of Washington's adminis- 
tration commenced. Though anxious to retire from 
the heavy and thankless burden of public cares, he 
was prevented from doing so by the unanimously 
expressed wish of the nation. Mr. Adams of Massa- 
chusetts was selected Vice-President, in opposition 
to Governor George Clinton of New York. Mr. 
Hamilton was continued by the President in the 
ofiice of Secretary of the Treasury. 

One of the most prominent incidents connected 
with the second administration of Washington, was 
the short war between the United States and France. 
It grew out of the events connected with the war 
which had been proclaimed between France and 
England. The unfortunate Louis XVI. had ex- 
piated on the scaffold the crime of having been born 
the inheritor of the throne of the Bourbons, for of no 
other crime had he been guilty, whatever his prede- 
cessors might have done ; and the French republic, 
then tumultuously seething under the insane guid- 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 255 

ance of the Jacobins, seemed determined to diffuse 
the evils of discord and war as far as possible among 
surrounding nations. The treaties which were then 
in existence between France and the United States, 
bound the latter by certain obligations, which, if 
strictly construed and carried out, would compel 
them to become a party to the war against England. 
To some extent this obligation was admitted ; and 
money had been advanced to France to support the 
war. But the new government of that country 
seemed to be resolved upon extreme measures in 
every thing, and appeared determined to compel the 
United States to take a more decided stand, and to 
become a direct belligerent. It soon became appa- 
rent that vigorous preparations were being made 
to fit out privateers in American ports, to sail under 
French colors, for the purpose of plundering British 
commerce. This was carrying the interpretation of 
the existing treaties further than the President and 
his cabinet were disposed to permit. 

Washington summoned a meeting of his cabinet 
for the purpose of deliberating on the matter. He 
submitted to them the questions — whether a procla- 
mation of neutrality should be made ; whether a 
resident minister from the French Republic should 
be received ; whether a qualified or an absolute recep- 
tion should be extended to him ; and whether, under 
the existing circumstances of the two countries, 



256 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the guarantee to aid each other contained in the 
treaty of alliance was binding, and should be exe- 
cuted? In answer to these questions, the cabinet 
unanimously advised that a proclamation should be 
issued, forbidding the citizens of the United States 
to take part with either of the belligerents, and that 
a minister from the French Republic ought to be re- 
ceived. On the other points submitted, a diversity 
of sentiment existed in the cabinet. Jefferson and 
Randolph, the friends of extreme democracy, were 
in favor of an unqualified reception of the French 
minister. Hamilton and Knox, the representatives 
of the federal school, were opposed to the direct re- 
cognition of the existing government of France. 
They did not suppose that that government would 
be permanent ; and they feared that its recognition 
by the United States would lead to difficulties with 
other European powers. They believed and held 
that the guarantees existing in the treaty with 
France had reference to a defensive war, and to 
that only. 

In the present instance, contrary to his usual cus- 
tom, Washington approved the sentiments of Jeffer- 
son and Randolph. A proclamation of neutrality 
was made, and the French ambassador was received 
with the same formalities, and on the same terms, 
with which the representatives of the defunct mon- 
archy of the Bourbons had been welcomed. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 257 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE FEDERALIST — ITS RELATIVE POSITION IN AME- 
RICAN LITERATURE — THE PERIOD OF ITS PUBLICATION — ITS GENERAL 
BCOPE AND PURPOSE — ITS SPECIFIC PARTS OR SUBDIVISIONS — ITS 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS — ITS PECULIARITIES OF STYLE — 
ITS CLEARNESS — BEAUTY — LOGICAL POWER — METAPHYSICAL PROFUN- 
DITY — COLOSSAL THOUGHTS — ANTITHETICAL FORCE — EMPLOYS CONTRI- 
BUTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM EVERY DEPARTMENT OP SCIENCE — 
INFLUENCE OF THE FEDERALIST ON AMERICAN AFFAIRS — ITS FOREIGN 
FAME AND INFLUENCE — ITS FUTURE CONSERVATIVE INFLUENCE ON THE 
AMERICAN UNION. 

A BRIEF examination of the peculiar characteris- 
tics of the Federalist may here be both appropriate 
and useful, in enabling us to form a clearer and 
more impartial estimate of the intellectual qualities 
and the political sentiments of the subject of this 
memoir. In speaking of the Federalist in this con- 
nection, we only refer to that part of it of which 
Hamilton was the acknowledged author, and which 
indeed constitutes much the largest portion of the 
whole work. The contributions of Jay were of but 
little consequence ; and although those of Madison 
were more numerous and extensive than his, yet 
they were not sufficiently ample to impress upon the 
entire work the distinctive character and elements 
22* 



\ 

V 



258 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of his own mind. The Federalist is in reality the 
production of Hamilton. It bears upon it the 
stamp of his great intellect ; it owes its existence to 
his suggestion ; its general plan and outline are 
his ; its most thorough and labored discussions 
emanated from his pen ; and its influence and 
celebrity are indissolubly connected "with his peer- 
less and undying fame. 

The Federalist is justly regarded as the great 
American classic in political science. No produc- 
tion which has emanated from any American states- 
man can compete with it in profundity, ability, and 
power. The great constitutional arguments of Mr. 
"Webster, and the elaborate treatise of Mr. Calhoun 
on the Constitution, are its acknowledged inferiors. 
It holds the same high place in American literature 
which the Letters of Junius, and the Reflections of 
Burke on the French Revolution, occupy in British 
literature; while it possesses one great advantage 
over these celebrated works, in the fact that 
their discussions are based upon transient and tem- 
porary events, which, however important and ab- 
sorbing they may have been at the period of their 
occurrence, lost their supreme and overwhelming 
interest with the steady progress of time. The 
Federalist is founded upon a theme equally perma- 
nent and glorious — one which will continue to in- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 259 

terest and benefit our race as long as true liberty 
exists upon the earth : and not only as long as the 
American confederacy shall continue to flourish, 
but even while it retains a place in the memory of 
mankind. It is a complete commentary upon the 
Constitution of the United States, which is fully 
worthy of its subject ; it is a magnificent superstruc- 
ture erected in perfect harmony with the symmetrical 
and beautiful proportions of the foundation upon 
which it is reared, and destined to be coequal with 
it in duration and celebrity. 

The first publication of the Federalist began in 
the daily journals in November, 1787, and it con- 
tinued till June, 1788. It attracted universal at- 
tention at the time ; and to the influence which it 
wielded the speedy and unanimous adoption of the 
federal Constitution by all the States is in a great 
measure to be attributed. Its general scope and 
purpose were to aflbrd the American people, at the 
period when they were discussing the provisions 
and merits of that Constitution previous to its final 
adoption — a thorough exposition of the principles 
which should characterize a federal representative 
government. It combines in harmonious propor- 
tions an ardent attachment to the principles of 
rational liberty, with a clear and impartial state- 
ment of the dangers which result from an excessive 



260 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

and uudue jealousy of the power intrusted to the 
central government, in those unsound and badly- 
constructed republics which, in former ages, have 
arisen, flourished, foundered, and fallen ; and it 
draws lessons of wisdom from their misfortunes. 
Or, in the words of Hamilton himself: " I propose 
to discuss the following interesting particulars : the 
utility of the Union to your political prosperity : the 
insufficiency of the present confederation to preserve 
that Union : the necessity of a government at least 
equally energetic with the one proposed, to the 
attainment of this object : the conformity of the 
proposed Constitution to the true principles of re- 
publican government: its analogy to your own 
State constitution : and lastly, the additional secu- 
rity which its adoption will afford to the preserva- 
tion of that species of government, to liberty and to 
prosperity." ^ 

In pursuance of this purpose the Federalist enters 
upon a wide and extended range of argument. It 
first takes into consideration, and discusses at length, 
the dangers which threaten the country from foreign 
force and foreign influence. It then approaches the 
internal condition of the colonies, and examines the 
dangers which impended of wars and conflicts be- 
tween the respective States, exposing clearly the 
causes which may lead to such unfortunate results. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 261 

It discusses the effects of internal war in producing 
standing armies, and various other institutions 
which are unfriendly to liberty. It treats succes- 
sively of the utility of the Union as a safeguard 
against domestic faction and insurrection ; the 
utility of the Union in respect to commerce and the 
establishment of a navy ; its utility in promoting a re- 
venue ; and in reference to the promotion of public 
economy. It then proceeds to examine the objection 
to its positions drawn from the extent of country 
included in the Union ; and the defects of the old 
confederation in relation to the principle of legisla- 
tion for the States in their collective capacities. 
Examples are adduced to show that the uniform 
tendency of federal governments is rather to anarchy 
and rivalry among the respective members, than 
to tyranny in the central power. The other themes 
discussed at length may be summed up as follows : 
concerning the militia, taxation, and various objec- 
tions to these points answered ; a general view of the 
powers proposed to be vested in the Union ; an 
examination of the comparative means of influence 
possessed by the federal and State governments ; 
concerning the House of Representatives, and the 
qualifications of its members, their term of service, 
and the ratio of representation; concerning the 
constitution of the Senate, and the number, quali- 



262 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

fications, and election of its members ; of the 
capacity of the Senate as a court for the trial of 
impeachments ; of the President and his powers, 
functions, term of service, eligibility to re-election, 
the veto power, his command of the national forces, 
and his power to pardon ; concerning the appoint- 
ment of the executive council, and the appointment 
of the other oificers of the government; an examina- 
tion of the constitution of the judicial department, 
and its powers, responsibilities, the distribution of its 
authority, and the trial hy jury. The whole discus- 
sion concludes with the examination of various 
miscellaneous questions and objections, which 
gives additional completeness and effect to the 
argument. 

The general results to which this profound and 
able investigation leads, the system of government 
which it gradually, beautifully, and harmoniously 
elaborates, the doctrines which it asserts, and wdiich 
it moulds into a complete and symmetrical whole, 
may be found fully displayed in the Constitution 
of the United States. This fact at once establishes 
the reasonableness, wisdom, and justice of the sen- 
timents contended for in the Federalist. It is an 
unimpeachable guarantee, the value of which in- 
creases with the progress of time, and with the 
augmentiug unparalleled prosperity of the brother- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 263 

liood of nations which flourishes under its benig- 
nant operation. In these doctrines are concentrated 
the accumulated political wisdom of all past ages, 
which has been obtained sometimes by the pro- 
found study of great statesmen in other times and 
countries, sometimes by the triumph and felicity of 
great States and communities which have existed 
under similar institutions elsewhere ; and some- 
times by the melancholy disasters and ruin of vast 
republics which mistook anarchy for freedom, 
the shadow of liberty for the substance, and even- 
tually became the victims of irresponsible, tumul- 
tuous, and perverted power. 

The discussion of the doctrines defended in the 
Federalist is beyond the province of the biographer 
of their author; but an examination of the style 
with which he utters them, and of the dress in 
which he clothes his thoughts, may not be inap- 
propriate. 

The style of Hamilton bore the impress of the 
peculiar qualities of his mind. It was clear, ner- 
vous, ornate, and always appropriate to the nature 
of the subject under discussion. In some of his 
reports as Secretary of the Treasury, when he is 
compelled to enter into dry statistical details, his 
style is plain and direct, without any eftbrt at orna- 
ment or display. In the Federalist, whenever the 



264 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

grandeur or the profundity of the themes discussed 
invited him to a labored exercise of his high pow- 
ers, his full strength was displayed ; the eagle then 
plumed his wings for an ambitious flight toward 
the sun, and few could soar as high or as majesti- 
cally as he. One of Hamilton's qualities as a writer 
in the Federalist was his clearness of statement. 
As an instance of this we may quote the following 
extract : 

" If the circumstances of our country are such as 
to demand a compound, instead of a simple — a 
confederate, instead of a sole government, the es- 
sential point which will remain to be adjusted, will 
be to discriminate the objects, as far as it can be 
done, which shall appertain to the diflferent pro- 
vinces or departments of power : allowing to each 
the most ample authority for fulfilling those which 
may be committed to its charge. Shall the Union 
be constituted the guardian of the common safety ? 
Are fleets, and armies, and revenues, necessary to 
this purpose ? The governmeut of the Union must 
be empowered to pass all laws, and to make all re- 
gulations which have relation to them. The same 
must be the case in respect to commerce, and to 
every other matter to wliich its jurisdiction is per- 
mitted to extend. Is the administration of justice 
between the citizens of the same State the proper 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 265 

department of the local governments. These must 
possess all the authorities which are connected with 
this object, and with every other that may be al- 
lotted to their particular cognizance and direction. 
Not to confer in each case a degree of power com- 
mensurate to the end, would be to violate the most 
obvious rules of prudence and propriety, and im- 
providently to trust the great interests of the nation 
to hands which are disabled from managing them 
with vigor and success."* 

Many examples occur of great beauty of diction 
and of imagery, such as are rarely to be found in 
the dry details of state papers. As an instance we 
may quote the following : 

" It is impossible to read the history of the petty 
republics of Greece and Italy, without feeling sen- 
sations of horror and disgust at the distractions 
with which they were continually agitated ; and at 
the rapid succession of revolutions by which they 
were kept perpetually vibrating between the ex- 
tremes of tyranny and anarchy. If they exhibit 
occasional calms, these only serve as short-lived 
contrasts to the furious storms that are to succeed. 
If now and then intervals of felicity open them- 
selves to view, we behold them with a mixture of 
regret arising from the reflection, that the pleasing 

« See Federalist, No. XXIII. 

23 



2G6 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

scenes before us are soon to be overwhelmed by the 
tempestuous waves of sedition and party rage. If 
momentary rays of glory break forth from the 
gloom while they dazzle us with a transient and 
fleeting brilliancy, they at the same time admonish 
us to lament, that the vices of government should 
pervert the direction, and tarnish the lustre of those 
bright talents and exalted endowments for which 
the favored soils that produced them have been so 
justly celebrated. 

" But it is not to be denied, that the portraits 
they have sketched of republican government, 
were too just copies of the originals from which 
they were taken. If it had been found impracti- 
cable to have devised models of a more perfect 
structure, the enlightened friends of liberty would 
have been obliged to abandon the cause of that spe- 
cies of government as indefensible. The science of 
politics, however, like most other sciences, has re- 
ceived great improvement. The efficacy of various 
principles is now well understood, which were either 
not known at all, or imperfectly known to the an- 
cients. The regular distribution of power into dis- 
tinct departments ; the introduction of legislative 
balances and checks ; the institution of courts com- 
posed of judges, holding their offices during good 
behavior; the representation of the people in the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 267 

legislature, by deputies of their own election ; 
these are either wholly new discoveries, or have 
made their principal progress toward perfection in 
modern times."* 

As a remarkable example of the symmetry which 
characterizes the structure of the sentences of Ha- 
milton in the Federalist, may be adduced the pol- 
ished paragraph with which he concludes the Sixty- 
seventh paper of the series : 

" I have taken the pains to select this instance 
of misrepresentation, and to place it in a clear and 
strong light, as an unequivocal proof of the unwar- 
rantable arts which are practiced, to prevent a fair 
and impartial judgment of the real merits of the 
plan submitted to the consideration of the people. 
IsTor have I scrupled, in so flagrant a case, to indulge 
a severity of animadversion, little congenial with 
the general spirit of these papers. I hesitate not 
to submit it to the decision of any candid and 
honest adversary of the proposed government, whe- 
ther language can furnish epithets of too much as- 
perity for so shameless and so prostitute an attempt 
to impose on the citizens of America." 

The logical strength of Hamilton's style, where 
logical strength was either requisite or appropriate, 
is one of the most remarkable features of his com- 

* Federalist, No. IX. 



268 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

position. Often his ideas assume colossal forms and 
proportions ; and when he utters them they come 
down with sledge-hammer power and weight. 
These indicate the vast momentum and grasp of 
his intellect ; and they remind the reader more suc- 
cessfully than any other existing production of the 
prodigious conceptions of Demosthenes, and the 
ponderous thoughts of Webster. Of this quality 
the following extract is an appropriate example : 

" Our own experience has corroborated the les- 
sons taught by the examples of other nations ; that 
emergencies of this sort will sometimes exist in 
all societies, however constituted; that seditions 
and insurrections are, unhappily, maladies as inse- 
parable from the body politic, as tumors and erup- 
tions from the natural body; that the idea of go- 
verning at all times by the simple force of law, 
(which we have been told is the only admissible 
principle of republican government) has no place 
but in the revery of those political doctors, whose 
sagacity disdains the admonitions of experimental 
instruction. 

" Should such emergencies at any time happen 
under the national government, there could be no 
remedy but force. The means to be employed must 
be proportioned to the extent of the mischief. If 
it should be a slight commotion in a small part of a 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 269 

State, the militia of the residue would be adequate 
to its suppression : and the natural presumption is, 
that they would be ready to do their duty. An 
insurrection, whatever may be its immediate cause, 
eventually endangers all government. Kegard to 
the public peace, if not to the rights of the Union, 
would engage the citizens, to whom the contagion 
had not communicated itself, to oppose the insur- 
gents; and if the general government should be 
found in practice conducive to the prosperity and 
felicity of the people, it were irrational to believe 
that they would be disinclined to its support."* 

Whoever carefully examines this remarkable pro- 
duction will be struck with the fact, that not merely 
were all the elaborate graces of composition at the 
command of Hamilton ; not only was he able to 
polish both superficial and profound thoughts with 
the beauty and elegance even of Isocrates him- 
self; but that, whenever the nature of the discus- 
sion required or even permitted it, he reveled with 
equal ease in the most profound metaphysical and 
philosophical speculations, and expressed the most 
abstruse conceptions in the clearest and most intel- 
ligible manner. As an instance of this we may 
cite the illustration with which he opens the dis- 
cussion of the Twenty-first number: 

* Federalist, No. XXVIII. 

23* 



270 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

"In disquisitions of every kind, there are certain 
primary truths, or first principles, upon which all 
subsequent reasonings must depend. These contain 
an internal evidence, which, antecedent to all re- 
flection or combination, commands the assent of 
the mind. "Where it produces not this effect, it 
must proceed either from some disorder in the or- 
gans of perception, or from the influence of some 
strong interest, or passion, or prejudice. Of this 
nature are the maxims in geometry, that the whole 
is greater than its parts ; that things equal to the 
same, are equal to one another; that two straight 
lines cannot inclose a space; and that all right 
angles are equal to each other. Of the same nature 
are these other maxims in ethics and politics, that 
there cannot be an eflfect without a cause ; that the 
means ought to be proportioned to the end; that 
every power ought to be commensurate with its ob- 
ject; that there ought to be no limitation of a 
power destined to effect a purpose which is itself 
■ncapable of limitation. And there are other truths 
in the two latter sciences, which, if they cannot 
pretend to rank in the class of axioms, are such 
direct inferences from them and so obvious in them- 
selves, and so agreeable to the natural and unso- 
phisticated dictates of common sense, that they 
challenge the assent of a sound and unbiased 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 271 

mind, witli a degree of force and conviction almost 
equally irresistible." 

Thus it was that, on every suitable occasion, 
Hamilton summoned contributions illustrative of 
his subject, and auxiliary to his purpose, from every 
domain of science — from history, both ancient and 
modern, from natural philosophy, poetry, jurispru- 
dence, moral philosophy, political economy and 
metaphysics. He seems to be at home everywhere ; 
and no intellectual problem appeared to be too pro- 
found for his facile and masterly grasp. 

As a specimen of antithetical force and clear- 
ness, as well as of rapidity and comprehensiveness 
of style, the following passage will compare favor- 
ably with any thing to be found in the writings of 
the great masters of English composition. In re- 
ference to the proposed powers to be vested in 
Congress to make treaties, he says : 

" These two clauses have been the sources of 
much virulent invective, and petulant declamation, 
against the proposed Constitution. They have been 
held up to the people in all the exaggerated colors 
of misrepresentation ; as the pernicious engines by 
which their local governments were to be destroyed, 
and their liberties exterminated; «,s the hideous 
monster whose devouring jaws would spare neither 
sex nor age, nor high nor low, nor sacred nor pro- 



272 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

fane; and yet, strange as it may appear, after all 
this clamor, to those who may not have happened 
to contemplate them in the same light, it may be 
affirmed with perfect confidence, that the constitu- 
tional operation of the intended government would 
be precisely the same, if these clauses were entirely 
obliterated, as if they were repeated in every arti- 
cle. They are only declaratory of a truth, which 
would have resulted by necessary and unavoidable 
implication from the very act of constituting a fe- 
deral government, and vesting it with certain speci- 
fied powers. This is so clear a proposition, that 
moderation itself can scarcely listen to the railings 
which have been so copiously vented against this 
part of the plan, without emotions that disturb its 
equanimity."* 

A very remarkable attribute of the discussions 
of the Federalist is the fullness, completeness, and 
exhaustive thoroughness with which they expound 
every subject, dive beneath the surface of things, 
and completely fathom its utmost depths. To illus- 
trate fully this peculiarity it would be necessary to 
quote from that work at length, and to point out 
how, in some wide range of inquiry and argument, 
Hamilton sweeps along with a powerful and majes- 
tic wing over the farthest aud utmost bounds of 

* Federalist, No. XXXIII. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 273 

the debated laud. This our limits forbid. But the 
following extract will illustrate to a very small extent 
this quality of the movement of Hamilton's mind, 
in his contributions to the Federalist. "When speak- 
ing of the propriety of making the President of 
the United States eligible to re-election to office, 
after the conclusion of his first term of service, he 
says : 

" The administration of government, in its largest 
sense, comprehends all the operations of the body 
politic, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary; 
but in its most usual, and perhaps in its most pre- 
cise signification, it is limited to executive details, 
and falls peculiarly within the province of the exe- 
cutive department. The actual conduct of foreign 
negotiations, the preparatory plans of finance, the 
application and disbursement of the public moneys 
in conformity to the general appropriations of the 
legislature, the arrangement of the army and navy, 
the direction of the operations of war; these, and 
other matters of a like nature, constitute what 
seems to be most properly understood by the ad- 
ministration of government. The persons, there- 
fore, to whose immediate management these difier- 
ent matters are committed, ought to be considered 
as the assistants or deputies of the chief magistrate ; 
and on this account, they ought to derive their 



274 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

offices from his appointment, at least from his nomi- 
nation, and to be subject to his superintendence. 
This view of the thing will at once suggest to us 
the intimate connection between the duration of the 
executive magistrate in office, and the stability of 
the system of administration. To undo what has 
been done by a predecessor is very often considered 
by a successor as the best proof he can give of his 
own capacity and desert; and in addition to this 
propensity, where the alteration has been the result 
of public choice, the person substituted is warranted 
in supposing that the dismission of his predecessor 
has proceeded from a dislike to his measures, and 
that the less he resembles him the more he will re- 
commend himself to the favor of his constituents. 
These considerations, and the influence of personal 
confidences and attachments, would be likely to 
induce every new President to promote a change of 
men to fill the subordinate stations; and these 
causes together could not fail to occasion a disgrace- 
ful and ruinous mutability in the administration of 
the government."* 

Such are the literary peculiarities, and these are 
some of the doctrines discussed in this remarkable 
production. It is not singular, therefore, that the 

• Federalist, No. LXXII. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 275 

influence which the Federalist has exerted upon the 
political Constitution and organization of the repub- 
lics of this confederacy during past time, should 
have been immense. Such has been the fact. It 
was the chief means of securing the adoption of 
the federal Constitution, in the first instance, at a 
period when the highest interests of the nation de- 
manded the immediate concentration, fusion, and 
combination of the several States ; and at a time 
also when the intensity of party strifes, the bitter- 
ness of sectional hatred, and the fierce jealousy of 
rival commonwealths, rendered the attainment of 
such a result in the highest degree difficult and un- 
certain. 

Nor did the conservative and beneficial influence 
of the Federalist terminate there. It has ever since 
moulded the opinions of the wisest, ablest, and best 
of American statesmen. It has been the fountain 
whence they drew their most intelligent views of 
the true principles of government, both as to its 
construction and its administration. The conse- 
quence has been, that the influence of the principles 
established by the Federalist, has been seen and 
illustrated in the constitutions and laws of all the 
more youthful members of this Union ; whereby, as 
they successively become entitled to admission to 
fellowship with the older communities, their State 



? 



276 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

governments have always been consonant and ho- 
mogeneous in their cardinal features with those to 
whom they desire to become united. The conse- 
quence has been that the various members which 
now constitute this confederacy are as one people ; 
and no inconsiderable share of the merit of pro- 
ducing this felicitous result is due to the influence 
exerted by the able and profound discussions of the 
Federalist. 

The wise and learned of Europe have also appre- 
ciated the superior merit of this production. Shortly 
after its first appearance, the Federalist was trans- 
lated into French by M. Buisson, and published in 
Paris. In that country it has taken its place by the 
side of Montesquieu's " Spirit of Laws." It has 
been republished in Switzerland, and has been there 
honored as the w^orthy associate of the great work 
of Burlamaqui on the same subject. It is known 
and appreciated in every country of Europe, just in 
proportion as the liberty of the press and liberty 
of speech are possessed and enjoyed. 

It has been asserted by political philosophers of 
no mean ability, that the tendencies of all free 
governments are to the possession of still greater 
freedom, until their liberty, however rational and 
well-grounded it may have been in the first instance, 
degenerates into anarchy and destructive license. If 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 277 

such should be the future experience of the United 
States, the influence of the Federalist will not fail 
in generations yet to come to counteract- and resist 
such a ruinous result. Its conservative power will 
but increase in proportion as the wise lessons of 
experience are added to the profound speculations 
of theory. The arguments with w^hich it shields 
and shelters the great central power in the Confe- 
deracy from the conflicting jealousies of the sepa- 
rate States, both as against itself and as against 
each other, will only become more unanswerable 
and convincing, in proportion as a departure from 
its sage counsels drags the ship of state nearer to 
the verge of the precipice of ruin. As this great 
work aided so eftectually in securing the first adop- 
tion of the Constitution; as it is vivified by the 
same intellectual life; as it is instinct with the 
same patriotic genius; so the benignant influence 
of both will be coeval in duration ; — the Federalist 
will always serve to increase and perpetuate the 
supremacy of the Constitution ; and when at length 
the Constitution falls, if it ever does fall, it will 
bury beneath its melancholy ruins the fair and 
beauteous superstructure which the same skillful 
and masterly hands have thus reared upon it. 

It has frequently been asserted, that notwith- 
standing the positions assumed and defended by 
24 



278 THF LIFE AND TIMES 

Mr. Hamilton in the Federalist, lie was reall}' in 
favor of the election of a President for life, and 
of other monarchical or anti-republican sentiments 
and measures. The following important letter of 
Mr. Hamilton, addressed in the first instance to 
Timothy Pickering, will controvert and disprove 
this charge in the most direct and satisfactory 
manner : 

"New York, Sept. 16, 1803. 

" My dear Sir : I will make no apology for my 
delay in answering your inquiry, some time since 
made, because I could ofier none Avhich w^ould sa- 
tisfy myself. I pray you only to believe that it 
proceeded from any thing rather than from want of 
respect or regard. I shall now comply with your 
request. 

"The highest toned propositions which I made 
in the Convention, were for a President, Senate, 
and Judges, during good behavior; a House of Re- 
presentatives for three years. Though I would 
have enlarged the legislative power of the general 
government, yet I never contemplated the abolition 
of the State governments; but, on the contrary, 
they were, in some particulars, constituent parts of 
my plan. 

" This plan was, in my conception, conformable 
with the strict theory of a government purely re- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 279 

publican ; the essential criteria of which are, that 
the principal organs of the executive and legisla- 
tive departments be elected by the people, and hold 
the office by a responsible and temporary or defea- 
sible nature. 

"A vote was taken on the proposition respecting 
the executive. Five States were in favor of it — 
among these Virginia ; and though, from the man- 
ner of voting by delegations, individuals were not 
distinguished, it was morally certain, from the 
known situation of the Virginia members, (six in 
number, two of them. Mason and Randolph, pro- 
fessing popular doctrines,) that Madison must have 
concurred in the vote of Virginia. Thus, if I 
sinned against republicanism, Mr. Madison is not 
less guilty. 

"I may truly, then, say that I never proposed 
either a President or Senate for life; and that I 
neither recommended nor meditated the annihila- 
tion of the State governments. 

"And I may add that, in a course of the discus- 
sions in the Convention, neither the propositions 
thrown out for debate, nor even those who voted in 
the earlier stages of deliberation, were considered 
as evidence of a definitive opinion in the proposer 
or voter. It appeared to be in some sort under- 
stood that, with a view to free investigation, experi- 



280 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

mental propositions might be made, which were to 
be received merely as suggestions for consideration. 
Accordingly, it is a fact that my final opinion was 
against an executive during good behavior, on account 
of the increased danger to the public tranquillity 
incident to the election of a magistrate of his de- 
gree of permanency. In the plan of a Constitution 
which I drew up while the Convention was sitting, 
and which I communicated to Mr. Madison about 
the close of it, perhaps a day or two after, the office 
of President has no longer duration than for three 
years. 

"This plan was predicated upon these bases: 
1. That the political principles of the people of 
this country, would endure nothing but a repub- 
lican government. 2. That in the actual situation 
of the country it was itself right and proper that 
the republican theory should have a full and fair 
trial. 3. That to such a trial it was essential that 
the government should be so constructed as to give 
it all the energy and the stability reconcilable with 
the principles of that theory. These were the ge- 
nuine sentiments of my heart, and upon them I 
then acted. 

"I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be 
discovered that, through want of sufficient atteii- 
tion to the last idea, the experiment of republican 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 281 

government, even in this country, has not been as 

complete, as satisfactory, and as decisive as could 

be wished. 

"Very truly, dear sir, your friend and servant, 

A. Hamilton." 
24* 



282 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER XII. 

PROCEEDINGS OF M. GENET — REMONSTRANCE OP THE BRITISH MINISTER — 
CONFLICTS IN THE CABINET — OPINION OP HAMILTON RESPECTING PRIZES 
TAKEN IN WAR — LB PETIT DEMOCRAT — HAMILTON'S REPORT ON THE PUBLIC 
CREDIT — HIS VARIOUS OTHER REPORTS AS SECRETARY OF THE TREA- 
SURY — HE WRITES HIS CELEBRATED PACIFICUS — CHANGES IN WASH- 
INGTON'S CABINET — HAMILTON RESIGNS AS SECRETARY OP THE STATE 
TREASURY — OPPOSITION OP ALBERT GALLATIN TO WASHINGTON — HAMIL- 
TON VINDICATES THE PRESIDENT. 

The minister whom the French republic sent to 
the United States, in the year 1793, was M. Genet, 
a person not unknown at home in the bloody 
annals of Jacobin violence and triumph. He ar- 
rived at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 8th of 
April. His object in sailing for Charleston and 
not for Philadelphia, where the federal government 
was then located, obviously was, that he might be 
nearer to the "West Indies, which furnished a more 
favorable position for the resort and protection of 
privateers. He immediately began to authorize 
the fitting out and arming of vessels at Charleston, 
the enlisting of men, and the giving of commissions, 
to commit hostilities on a nation with whom the 
United States were then at peace. 

The course of conduct pursued by this Jacobin 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 283 

immediately drew fortli from Mr. Hammond, the 
British minister, a decided remonstrance. On the 
16th of May, Genet arrived at the seat of govern- 
ment. The party in the community who favored 
his principles and measures, prepared for him a 
public triumphal entry. Soon after his arrival he 
received various addresses of congratulation from 
the citizens of Philadelphia. Large numbers of 
them waited on him in person, and expressed their 
fervent gratitude for the efficient assistance which 
the French nation had furnished to the United 
States ; giving utterance to exultation at the recent 
success of their arms ; and expressing a conviction 
that the future welfare and safety even of the 
United States depended on the continued perpetuity 
and triumph of the French republic. M. Genet 
responded to these absurd utterances in terms 
which indicated how highly they gratified him, and 
inflated both his self-consequence and his hopes. 

Several days after his arrival M. Genet was pre- 
sented to the President, by whom he was received 
in the most cordial and friendly manner. In the 
conversation which passed between them, the 
French minister gave "Washington the most po- 
sitive assurances that France did not wish or ex- " 
pect to engage the United States as a party to the 
war. But he soon acted in direct hostility to this 



284 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

declaration. A British vessel, the Grange, in sail- 
ing from the port of Philadelphia, was attacked and 
captured by the French frigate L'Ambuscade, be- 
fore she had cleared the Capes of the Delaware. 

This outrage at once brought matters to a crisis. 
Mr. Hammond immediately demanded the restitu- 
tion of the prize. When the dispute came up for 
adjudication in the Cabinet, it was unanimously 
agreed that the jurisdiction of every independent 
nation within its own territory, being of a nature 
to exclude the exercise of any authority therein by 
any foreign power, the acts complained of by the 
British minister were not warranted by the treaty, 
were unjustifiable encroachments on the national 
sovereignty of the United States, and were viola- 
tions of neutral rights which the government could 
not permit. As to the delicate question of the res- 
titution of the prizes already taken, the Cabinet 
was divided. Jefferson and Randolph maintained, 
that vessels which had been captured on the high 
seas, and brought into the ports of the United 
States, by vessels fitted out and commissioned in 
their ports, ought not to be restored.* Hamilton 

• Mr. Jefferson maintained the same position in a letter to M. 
Genet himself, July 24, 1793; in which he says: "I believe it can- 
not be doubted that by the general law of nations, the goods of a 
friend found in the vessels of an enemy are free, and the goods of 
an enemy found in the vessels of a friend, are lawful prize." See 
" Observations on the Dispute between the United States and France, 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 285 

and Knox contended for the opposite opinion. 
"Washington deliberated long and cautiously in re- 
ference to this disputed point. The Secretary of 
State was directed to communicate to M. Genet 
and Hammond the conclusion of the President in 
reference to the first question discussed and settled ; 
and circular letters were sent to all the executives 
of the States, requiring their co-operation in the 
execution of the policy adopted by government. 

The French minister was intensely excited and 
offended at the conclusions already arrived at by the 
American cabinet. He denounced them as opposed 
to national rights, to the laws of nations, and as sub- 
versive of the existing treaties between the two 
nations. He was encouraged in his violence by a 
great party in the community who were in oppo- 
sition to the existing administration; and intoxi- 
cated by their adulation, as well as ignorant of the 
determined character of "Washington, he adopted 
one of the most extraordinary expedients recorded 
in history. He threatened to make an appeal from 
the decision of the federal government to the voice 
of the people ! He contended that the real govern- 
ment of a free community rested, not in the dele- 
addressed by Robert Goodloe Harper, of South Carolina, to his con- 
Btituents, May 1797, page 13." Mr. Jeifersoii proceeds to say; "We 
have established a contrary principle, that free ships shall make free 
goods, in our treaties with France, Holland and Prussia." Ibid. p. 14. 



286 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

gated authorities, but in the people alone ; that in 
a democratic State the people, and they only, pos- 
sessed the real sovereignty.* 

This expedient, so perfectly French and Jacobin 
in its nature, might have had considerable efficiency 
in the land of Marat, Danton and the carmagnoles ; 
but it would not answer in the land of the Pilgrims 

• The style adopted by this distinguished indiyidual may be in- 
ferred from the following extract from his inflated communications 
to Washington ; 

" Every obstruction by the government of the United States to 
the arming of French vessels, must be an attempt on the rights of 
man, upon which repose the independence and laws of the United 
States — a violation of the ties which unite the people of France 
and America, and even a manifest contradiction of the system of 
neutrality of the President ; for in fact, if our merchant vessels, 
or others, are not allowed to arm themselves, when the French alone 
are resisting the league of all the tyrants against the liberty of the 
people, they will be exposed to inevitable ruin in going out of the 
ports of the United States ; which is certainly not the intention of 
the people of America. Their fraternal voice has i"esounded from 
every quarter around me, and their accents are not equivocal. They 
are pure as the hearts of those by whom they are expressed ; and 
the more they have touched my sensibility, the more they must in- 
terest in the happiness of America the nation I represent ; the more 
I wish, sir, that the federal government would observe, as far as in 
their power, the public engagements contracted by both nations ; 
and that, by this generous and prudent conduct, they will give at 
least to the world the example of a true neutrality, which does not 
consist in the cowardly abandonment of their friends in the moment 
when danger menaces them, but in adhering strictly, if they can do 
no better, to the obligations they have contracted with them. It is 
by such proceeding that they will render themselves respectable to 
all the powers — that they will preserve their friends, and deserve to 
augment their numbers." 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 287 

and the Cavaliers, in the home of Washington and 
Hamilton. This insane appeal of Genet at once 
alarmed, offended, and insulted the whole nation. 
They became apprehensive for the honor and inde- 
pendence of their country. The difficulties were 
increased by the presence in the port of Philadel- 
phia of a French privateer called Le Petit Demo- 
crat ; which was about to sail thence on a priva- 
teering cruise. Genet refused to delay the departure 
of this vessel as requested to do, until the matters 
in dispute were adjusted. Hamilton recommended 
that she should be detained in port by force. Jef- 
ferson, however, dissented from so vigorous and 
decisive a measure. "Washington thus expressed 
himself in reference to it. " Is the minister of the 
French republic to set the acts of government at 
defiance with im'punity^ and threaten the executive 
with an appeal to the people? "What must the 
world think of such conduct, and of the American 
government in submitting to it?" "Washington 
finally requested the recall of M. Genet; and with 
unexpected subserviency to the cause of right and 
justice, he was in consequence superceded. ISTever- 
theless the American envoys at Paris, Messrs. 
Pinckney and Marshall, were ordered to quit the 
territory of France; and the difficulties increased 



288 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

between the two countries to such a degree that it 
resulted in a declaration of hostilities. 

In his addresses to the National Legislature, 
Washington had frequently urged the adoption of 
measures which might accomplish the gradual 
diminution of the public debt. In this patriotic 
purpose he was constantly supported by Mr. Hamil- 
ton. The indefatigable Secretary of the Treasury 
endeavored to explore new sources of revenue. Yet 
new taxes constantly excited the popular clamor, 
however indispensable they were to the support and 
the efficiency of the government. While Congress 
was engaged in discussing a report made by a select 
committee, on a resolution moved by Mr. Smith of 
South Carolina, to the effect that further provision 
should be made for the reduction of the public debt, 
Hamilton addressed a letter to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, informing them that he had digested 
and prepared a plan for the increase of the na- 
tional revenues, and for the elevation of the public 
credit.* This report was regarded as a master-piece 
of financial ability. 

This great statesman, wearied with the thankless 
cares of office, and seeing the cecessity of providing 

• Report on Public Credit, sent to the House of Representatives, 
January 16th, 1795. See Works of Alexander Hamilton, by J. C. 
Hamilton, Vol. III. p. 457, et seq. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 289 

for the future support of his family, and the increase 
of his private fortune, now determined to devote his 
talents to his profession. On the 1st of December, 
1794, he gave notice to the President that he desired 
his resignation of office to take place on the 31st of 
January, 1795. During the latter part of his ad- 
ministration he had submitted to the National 
Legislature several additional reports connected 
with the great questions and interests of his office, 
all of which were characterized by his usual ability 
and profundity. One of these reports recommended 
the establishment of a mint.* Another referred to 
the subject of manufactures, communicated to the 
House of Representatives in December, 1791. f A 
third discussed the question of duties on spirits, 
communicated in March, 17924 A fourth ex- 
amined thoroughly and profoundly the principle 
of loans, and was communicated to the National 
Legislature in February, 1793.§ 

With labors such as these the connection of Mr. 
Hamilton with the federal government was about to 
terminate. There never lived a minister whose 
conduct and career excited such enthusiastic praise 
on the one hand, and such bitter execration on the 



• See Woi-ks of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. III. p. 149, et seq. 
\ Ibid. p. 192, et seq. % Ibid. p. 297. I Ibid. p. 371, et seq. 

25 



290 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

other. Yet the steady lapse of years has now 
clearly demonstrated, even by the admissions of his 
former opponents, that his system was a profoundly 
wise, patriotic, and judicious one. He has very 
justly been denominated the " founder of the public 
credit of the United States." The great cardinal 
principle which guided all his measures as Secretary 
of the Treasury was the establishment of good faith, 
by the punctual performance of contracts, as the 
foundation of national credit. And to increase the 
confidence of the world in the credit of the nation, 
he repeatedly urged upon Congress the propriety 
of renouncing expressly, by the passage of special 
acts, all right to tax the public funds, or to seques- 
ter on any pretext the property of foreigners. It 
was his policy to enable the country to develope in 
every way its immense resources. Under his ad- 
ministration the finances advanced to a state of 
prosperity which was then unequaled ; so much so, 
as even to attract the attention, elicit the praise, and 
command the confidence of the nations of Europe. 
He never patronized the doctrine, as his enemies 
falsely charged, that a public debt was a public 
blessing; but he uniformlj^ and consistently held, 
that the progressive accumulation of debt was the 
natural disease of all governments ; that it ought to 
be guarded against with inflexible perseverance and 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 291 

tlioughtfiil prudence. He held it to be a funda- 
mental maxim in the system of public credit, that 
the creation of a public debt, when it became un- 
avoidable, should always be accompanied with the 
means of its final extinguishment. In his lastrepoi"t 
he strongly recommended a provision for augment- 
ing the sinking fund, so as to render it commensu- 
rate with the entire debt of the United States ; and 
he proposed to secure that fund by a sanction the 
most inviolable which could have been de\ised, 
which was to make the application of the fund 
to the object a part even of the contract with the 
creditor.* 

* " Seldom has any minister excited the opposite passions of love 
and hate in a higher degree than Colonel Hamilton. His talents 
were too prominent not to receive the tribute of profound respect 
from all ; and his integrity and honor as a man, not less than his 
ofiBcial rectitude, though slandered at a distance, were admitted to be 
superior to reproach by those enemies who knew him. 

" But with respect to his political principles and designs, the 
most contradictory opinions were entertained. While one party 
sincerely believed his object to be the preservation of the Consti- 
tution of the United States in its purity ; the other, with perhaps 
equal sincerity, imputed to him the insidious intention of subvert- 
ing it. While his friends were persuaded that, as a statesman, he 
viewed foreign nations with an equal eye, his enemies could per- 
ceive in his conduct only hostility to France and attachment to her 
rival. 

"In the good opinion of the President, to whom he was best 
known, he had always held a high place ; and he carried with him 
out of office the same cordial esteem for his character, and respect 
for his talents, which had induced his appointment." — See Marshall's 
Life of Washington, p. 343. 



292 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Mr. Hamilton's report on manufactures is a pro- 
duction of unsurpassed ability. It is probably the 
most elaborate of all his reports. It is distinguished 
by its profound research and investigation. It 
struck a deadly blow to the then prevalent and 
fashionable tenets of the French economists, as well 
as to the kindred theories advocated by Adam Smith 
in his celebrated ""Wealth of Nations." It defended 
the principles of the mercantile system, and proved 
that while the theories of the Scotch philosopher are 
beautiful and even amusing in the abstract, they are 
not susceptible of a practical realization. Smith 
attacked the manufacturing and mercantile interests, 
as founded on an oppressive monarchy; and as- 
serted the absolute freedom of commerce and in- 
dustry, as unimpeded by legislative enactments and 
the restrictions of government. Hamilton com- 
bated some of the principles involved in this doctrine, 
and adopted the mercantile system on the basis of 
self-defense. 

Mr. Hamilton, while Secretary of the Treasury, 
was Washington's constitutional adviser in relation 
to the duties of his office ; and few matters of im- 
portance were transacted without his approval. 
The times were exceedingly critical ; and the pro- 
foundest statesmen were often at fault. It was the 
period of the first French Revolution. The whole 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 293 

civilized world had caught the iusaue excitement 
which agitated that nation, and seemed to be in a 
state bordering on convulsion and ruin. Xot con- 
tent with establishing radicalism on a bloody throne 
in the chivalrous land of Bayard, Turenne, and 
Cond6; not satisfied with enthroning a licentious 
and ribald infidelity in the temples where the 
sublime eloquence of Massillon and Bossuet had 
resounded ; the French persisted in becoming the 
crusaders of their rotten political and religious 
creeds, and involved other nations in commotion. 
They attacked contiguous countries on the conti- 
nent, especially Holland ; and passing over the seas 
assailed England, and sought even to embroil the 
United States. To the prudence, abilit}^, and saga- 
city of two men chiefly, this country was indebted 
to her comparative repose and prosperity in that 
portentous hour; and those men were Washington 
and Hamilton. The celebrated essay termed Paci- 
ficus was written by the latter in the summer of 
1793, in defense of the lawfulness and expediency 
of Washington's "Proclamation of Neutrality," in 
opposition to the restless and dangerous intrigues 
of M. Genet. In that work he clearly proves that 
the President had competent authority to issue that 
proclamation ; that it was simply a declaration of 
the already existing law of the land, which asserted 
25* 



294 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the neutrality of our government ; that as constitu- 
tional executor of the laws, it was his duty to see 
that neutrality maintained; that the United States 
were under no obligation from existing treaties with 
France to become a party to the war ; that consider- 
ing the peculiar origin of the war the United States 
had the most conclusive reasons against any such 
interference ; that gratitude to our benefactors for 
their opportune and generous aid in the hour of our 
greatest necessity, was not a sufficient reason why 
we should become a belligerent power ; and that in 
fact the United States were not the debtors to the 
then existing government in France, but to the one 
which that government had overthrown — to the 
fallen Bourbons, to the deadly and ruined foe of the 
triumphant faction which then held a usurped and 
pernicious power. 

Having retired from the office of Secretary of the 
Treasury, Mr. Hamilton returned to New York and 
resumed the practice of the law. After twenty 
years spent in the public service he had accumulated 
nothing. Very soon his professional profits became 
considerable. He stepped at once from the bottom 
to the summit of that eminence, in the painful and 
slow ascent of which so many toil for years. But 
the splendid abilities and the universal fame of 
Hamilton rendered his progress entirely difi'erent 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 295 

from that winch marks the career of ordinary men. 
He soon began to reap the abundant harvest which 
such talents, such industry, and such fame richly 
deserve. 

His retirement was not long uninteiTupted. He 
was soon called upon to vindicate the character and 
integrity of his friend, the chief magistrate of the 
nation, from the foul charges which an infamous 
party-hatred preferred against him. Both the mili- 
tary and political character of Washington were 
furiously assailed. The republican or radical party 
asserted that he was totally destitute of merit, 
either as a soldier or as a statesman. Even his per- 
sonal qualities as a man were ridiculed and cen- 
sured. It was asserted that he had violated the 
Constitution in the recent treaty which had been 
made with England through the agency of Mr. Jay ; 
and an impeachment even was threatened against 
Am,* whom all wise and good men now designate 
as the patriot who possessed the severest virtue 
known in modern times ; who happily mingled in 
one the characters of Aristides, Cincinnatus, and 
Scipio. It was also asserted that he had drawn 
from the Treasury for his private use, more than the 
amount of salary allowed him by law. To support 

• See " Marshall's Life of Washington," Vol. I. p. 349. 



296 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

this last infamous assumption, extracts from the ac- 
counts of the Treasury Office were laid before the 
House of Representatives. 

Hamilton came forward boldly to the defense of 
his ancient friend. He denied publicly and of- 
ficially in the journals that the appropriations made 
by the government had ever been exceeded. The 
infamous charge was again repeated and insisted 
on ; and then was seen that most despicable specta- 
cle which a degraded humanity ever exhibits, when 
it eagerly seizes the opportunity to exult in the 
degradation of exalted personages and of immortal 
names which they had long been compelled to re- 
spect and esteem. These unfortunate circumstances 
induced Hamilton to prepare and publish a more 
explicit and full explanation. He proved that 
"Washington had himself never received in person 
any portion of his salary ; but that the money had 
all been received and disbursed by the person who 
superintended the expenses of his household. He 
showed that it was the practice of the Treasury, 
when a certain sum had been appropriated for the 
current year, to pay it to that gentleman when called 
upon. The expenses of some periods of the year 
sometimes exceeded the allowance, and at others 
they fell short of it. Sometimes money was paid in 
advance and sometimes money stood to the credit 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 297 

of the President's household. In all- these matters 
"Washington himself had never personally inter- 
fered. So complete was the vindication published 
by Hamilton of his illustrious friend, that even the 
foul tongue of faction was at last silenced ; and the 
public confidence was restored again to the founder 
of the Republic. 

But these incidents, among the last which occurred 
during the administration of Washington, and which 
for a short period very considerably disturbed his 
repose, serve pre-eminently to show the instability 
and worthlessness of the popular judgment. In 
spite of all the unequaled assurances which the 
long career of public service, extending for nearly 
forty years, in which Washington had occupied posi- 
tions of high trust and importance, that his integrity 
and virtue were immaculate, the voice of the 
insane and ungrateful populace charged him with 
being a thief, and even threatened him with an 
impeachment ! 

Mr. Hamilton had been the chief support of the 
two administrations of Washington ; and when its 
jurisdiction terminated it left the country in a high 
state of prosperity. At home a sound condition 
of public credit had been established. An immense 
floating debt had been securely funded in such a 
manner, that all the creditors of the nation were 



298 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

perfectly satisfied. The difficulties which are usu- 
ally connected with a system of internal taxation 
were gradually removed. The authority of the 
central government, once viewed by the States 
with 80 much jealousy, and yet so indispensable to 
the prosperity, unity, and harmony of the whole, 
was finally established. A considerable portion of 
the public debt had already been discharged, and a 
method for the payment of the balance provided. 
The agricultural and commercial wealth of the na- 
tion had been nurtured and increased. The nume- 
rous tribes of Indians who occupied the territories 
which lay between the confines of civilization and 
the Mississippi were awed into a respectful peace, 
and had become the allies of the white race. That 
humane system was already begun which has since 
to some extent been pursued, by which the children 
of the forest were civilized, and furnished with the 
blessings and conveniences of settled life. Abroad, 
all the differences of the nation had been happily 
adjusted. Spain had been conciliated, and the free 
navigation of the Mississippi had been acquired. 
Treaties had been formed with Algiers and Tri- 
poli, which secured to American commerce free 
access to the ports of the Mediterranean. The 
various members of the Confederacy had been 
moulded into a vigorous and harmonious whole. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 299 

A great and powerful nation bad arisen on the 
wide-spread ruins of British despotism. "Wash- 
ington retired at last to the shades of Mount Ver- 
non, surrounded with the applause of grateful and 
appreciative millions, in order there to glido down 
the vale of years unobtrusively, in the enjoyment 
of that repose to which he had been so long a 
stranger. And to Hamilton all these happj r( suits 
were due, in no inconsiderable degree. 



300 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CHARGES OP OFFICIAL FRAUD MADE AGAINST HAMILTON — HE DEFENDS 
HIMSELF — AFFAIR OF MARIA REYNOLDS — CONSPIRACY TO EXTORT MONEY 

PERVERTED BY HASIILTON'S ENEMIES TO SERVE PARTY PURPOSES 

HIS FINAL AND TRIUMPHANT . VINDICATION OF HIMSELF — HAMILTON DE- 
VOTES HIMSELF TO THE LABORS OF HIS PROFESSION — WRITES CAMIL- 
LUS — THREATENED WAR WITH FRANCS — ACTIVE MEASURES OP DE- 
FENSE TAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES — THE DIFFICULTIES FINALLY 
ADJUSTED — HAMILTON PUBLISHES MANLIUS AND THE STAND — HE 
WRITES WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

During that excited period of American history 
which is comprised within the second administra- 
tion of "Washington, party hostility was not con- 
fined to assaults upon the chief magistrate alone. 
The conduct of the leading members of his Cabinet 
was violently and bitterly assailed. While yet in 
ofiice, Mr. Hamilton had successfully vindicated him- 
self against several of these attacks. Immediately 
after his retirement he was compelled again to as- 
sume the defensive. In a work published in 1797, 
entitled the "History of the United States for the 
year 1796," charges of peculation and fraud in the 
revenue were renewed against him.* Then ensued 

* See " Observations on certain Documents contained in Noa. V. 
and VI. of tlie History of the United States, for the year 1796, in 
which the charge of speculation against Alexander Hamilton is fully 
refuted. Written by Himself. Philadelphia, printed for John 
Fenno, by John Bioren, 1797." 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 301 

one of the most unfortunate incidents in the life 
of Hamilton. In order to defend himself against 
the alleged crime of dishonesty as a public officer, he 
was compelled to acknowledge and expose his weak- 
ness as a man. There are spots even on the disc of the 
sun ; and the only defect in the character of Alex- 
ander Hamilton was the one which was dragged 
into public view by the defense which he made on 
this occasion. Impartial history dares not wholly 
overlook the incidents connected with this affair, 
and Hamilton's exalted fame can well afford to 
bear the brief recital of them. 

In the year 1791, while the seat of government 
was located at Philadelphia, a female of more than 
ordinary beauty of person called at the residence 
of Mr. Hamilton in that city, and desired to have 
a private interview with him. She stated she was 
a native of the cit}^ of New York, and a sister of 
Mr. George Livingston ; that knowing Mr. HamiK 
ton had resided in that city she had ventured to 
call upon him to obtain assistance to return thither, 
as she had been recently deserted by her husband, 
James Reynolds, without any means of support. 
Mr. Hamilton, with his usual generosity of dispo- 
sition, complied; and at her earnest request visited 
her at her lodgings. An intimacy then ensued. 
There is reason to believe that the whole intrigue 
26 



802 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

was arranged between the husband and wife, for 
the express purpose of extorting money fi'om the 
Secretary of the Treasury ; for soon afterward 
James Reynolds himself appears upon the scene of 
action, loudly asserting that his conjugal rights 
and honor had been invaded, and that the offender 
snould be made to pay heavy penalties for the out- 
rage. Mrs. Reynolds acted her part with all the 
adroitness and duplicity of a consummate trickster. 
Sums of money not much exceeding a thousand 
dollars, were obtained from time to time by threats 
from their victim. At length Reynolds demanded 
employment as a subordinate agent in the office 
then held by Mr. Hamilton ; but the latter, having 
found reason to suspect that Reynolds was a prac- 
ticed knave, was too honorable to sacrifice the 
public interest and his duty to his country to his 
personal security and private reputation. The de- 
mand of Reynolds was peremptorily refused. This 
wretch then determined upon having revenge. He 
obtained the aid of an accomplice named Clingman, 
as vile and as unprincipled as himself. They finally 
consented to accept a thousand dollars, as a com- 
pensation in full for all the injuries which Reynolds 
supposed himself to have endured. This salvo to 
bis wounded honor was paid. Reynolds then by 
letter invited Hamilton to renew his visits to his 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 303 

wife. The fair lady was herself also importunate 
in her requests to the same effect; and Hamilton 
complied. Further demands for money were then 
subsequently made, which were not satisfied to 
their full extent. -y. 

Reynolds, his wife, and Clingman from that 
moment began systematically to blacken the cha- 
racter and reputation of Mr. Hamilton, and to 
spread the most injurious reports respecting him. 
These soon reached the ears of the members of 
Congress. On the 15th December, 1792, Messrs. 
Monroe, Venable, and Muhlenberg waited on Mr. 
Hamilton, and informed him that they felt it their 
duty to say that they had heard of a very improper 
pecuniary connection between himself and Mr. 
James Reynolds ; that they had become possessed 
of some documents of a suspicious character; that 
they felt compelled to lay the matter before the 
President ; but that before doing so, they thought 
proper to give him the opportunity of an explana- 
tion. Mr. Hamilton promptly replied that he pos- 
sessed documents which conclusively proved that 
his relation to Reynolds was one entirely of a per- 
sonal nature, having nothing whatever to do with 
affairs either of speculation or of government. On 
presenting those proofs for inspection, the three 
gentlemen declared themselves perfectly convinced 



304 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

of Hamilton's inuocence, even before he had 
conduded his explanations; and desired him 
not to continue them. He insisted however on 
completing his defense. They were then entirely 
satisfied of Mr. Hamilton's innocence; and even 
apologized for having introduced the subject to his 
notice. 

There this disagreeable matter ended, until the 
appearance of the "History of the United States 
for 1796." The enemies of Mr. Hamilton in that 
work denied that the intercourse between him and 
the lady in question was an affair of the heart, but 
contended that it was one of financial speculation. 
The letters of Mrs. Reynolds to Mr. Hamilton 
themselves proved the utter absurdity of this 
charge, and were published by him in connection 
with his defense. The fact was that this romantic 
connection was seized upon by Colonel Burr, and 
other political and implacable foes of Mr. Hamilton, 
to cover him with the foulest and falsest charges 
of official dishonesty; but the consequence was, 
that the defense made by the accused was so over- 
whelmingly convincing and satisfactory, that it 
resulted only in the exposure of an amiable and 
chivalrous weakness in Mr. Hamilton, of which the 
world had not suspected him — so high, so stainless, 



OF ALIXANDER HAMILTON. 305 

and 80 unimpeachable was his character in every 
other imaginable particular.* 

On retiring from his oificial station, Mr. Hamil- 
ton devoted himself to his professional duties. He 
was soon surrounded wnth a very large and lucra- 
tive practice. He became a great favorite with the 
New York merchants, and they confided their most 
important interests to his care. The treaty which 
had been negotiated with England having again 
called forth the most furious hostility against Wash- 
ington, Mr. Hamilton devoted the summer of 1795 
to a defense of the provisions of this treaty in a 
series of essays under the signature of *' Camillus."t 
This is one of the most lengthy and labored of his 
various productions. The first twenty-two num- 
bers are appropriated to an investigation of the 
ten permanent articles of this treaty. The doc- 
trines defended in these letters remain to this day 
the undisputed law of the land. The remaining 
portion of the work discusses that part of the 

• Reynolds andClingman having both been arrested on the charge 
of perjury, whereby they had obtained money dishonestly from the 
Treasury of the United States, it furnished a favorable opportunity 
to connect Mr. Hamilton's name with the affair through his relation 
to Reynolds's wife. See "Observations on the History of the United 
States for the year 1796, by Alexander Hamilton," &c., in Appen- 
dix No. I. of that work. There is also evidence to prove that the 
fascinating "Mrs. Reynolds' was not in fact the wife of Reynolds, 
but the mistress both of Reynolds and of Clingman. 

■J- See Hamilton's Works by his son, Vol. VII., p. 172, et seq. 

26* 



306 THF LIFE AND TIMES 

treaty wliicli was commercial and temporary, and 
which has ah'eady expired by its own limitation. 
The ability displayed in this production renders it 
one of the most complete and satisfactory exposi- 
tions or discussions of a complicated diplomatic 
question, which is in existence. The positions as- 
sumed by Mr. Hamilton, in reference to the bene- 
ficial operation of this treaty, have long since been 
amply vindicated and proved by the lapse of time. 
The main question in dispute was not whether the 
treaty was in all respects the most desirable which 
could have been devised, but whether the treaty 
did not adjust, in a fair and reasonable manner, the 
existing differences between the two nations; and 
whether both the interests and the honor of the 
United States did not then require its adoption. 
Very soon the storms of opposition which arose 
against the treaty, and against those who framed and 
approved it, subsided ; and " Camillus" aided very 
effectually in the attainment of this desirable result. 
The most important articles were the third, which 
discussed the commercial intercourse between the 
United States and Canada, and the tenth, which 
provided against the confiscation of private debts 
in time of war. The argument of "Camillus" on 
the latter point forms an independent treatise of 
itself ; and constitutes such a chapter on an impor- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 307 

tant doctrine of the law of nations as Grotius and 
Brinckershoek might themselves have produced. 
It views the suhject in a comprehensive light, both 
with reference to reason and principle, to policy 
and expediency, to the sentiments of the most emi- 
nent jurists and the general usage of civilized na- 
tions ; and next to the Federalist will constitute the 
most remarkable and permanent literary monument 
of the genius of its author. 

The country was now menaced with a war with 
France ; and its two most distinguished citizens, 
Washington and Hamilton, were forced from their 
retirement by a strong sense of public duty, to 
take a prominent part in its incidents. The recall 
of M. Genet had not, as it was hoped, settled the 
difhculty between the two countries. Three pleni- 
potentiaries had been sent to France after the de- 
parture of M. Genet, of whom General Pinckney 
was the chief. For a considerable period no offi- 
cial intelligence reached the United States in refe- 
rence to their negotiations at Paris. At length in 
January, 1798, dispatches were received from them 
stating that an unfavorable state of things existed. 
In the succeeding spring they advised the American 
government of the total failure of their endeavors to 
adjust the existing disputes. The French Directory, 
under various and absurd pretexts, delayed to recog- 



308 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

nize the emissaries of the United States. They 
were repeatedly insulted and assailed by persons 
acting under the influence of the existing govern- 
ment, demanding money from the United States 
as an indispensable preliminary before any other 
steps could be taken, not only of reconciliation 
with France but also of negotiation on the subjects 
of the proposed treaty. They attempted basely to 
work upon the fears of the American plenipoten- 
tiaries. The superior and overwhelming power of 
France was dwelt upon. Allusions were made to 
her triumphs over the United Netherlands, over 
the republic of Geneva, over the Swiss cantons, 
over Genoa and Venice — all of which had either 
been vanquished by her invincible arms or crushed 
by her more formidable embraces. At that very 
moment she was actively engaged in fitting out a 
vast and powerful armament in the ports of the 
Mediterranean, for some distant and unrevealed 
expedition of conquest and plunder. The inference 
plainly hinted at was, that it was intended for the 
anticipated conflicts with the United States of 
America. 

At length the American envoys were compelled 
to refuse all further personal communication with 
the haughty and insulting statesmen who then held 
a despotic bat transient and pernicious power in 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 309 

France. They addressed a communication to the 
"Minister of Exterior Relations," in which thev 
explained their position, their purposes, and their 
duties. This prudent step produced no eflPect. The 
insults of France became even more intolerable. 
Her cruisers waged open and undisguised hostili- 
ties on American commerce. The flag of the 
United States was insulted by her ships on every 
sea, and furnished a sutflcient provocation for the 
assault and capture of every vessel over which it 
waved. - 

At last the American envoys were ordered to 
quit the French territories. These events were 
then officially communicated to Congress. A nar- 
rative of them was published ; and it excited to an 
intense degree the just indignation and resentment 
of the whole nation. Congress resolved to adopt 
vigorous measures of retaliation and defense. The 
most important of these was the establishment of 
a regular army. As soon as this purpose was made 
known, the whole community with one voice again 
invited General Washington to emerge from his 
honorable retirement, and assume the chief com- 
mand. He was the only person who, in that high 
place, could allay existing jealousies, could com- 
mand the confidence of the whole people, and 



810 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

could enlist iu the public service the best talents of 
every class and every party. 

In reply to a letter from the President he wrote : 
" In case of actual invasion by a formidable force, I 
should not intrench myself under cover of age and 
retirement, if my services should be required by my 
country to assist in repelling it." He added that 
his principles through life had been such, that he 
could never withhold his services from his country 
in any emergency of her history. But he intimated 
that several provisos would accompany his accept- 
ance of the responsible trust of commander-in-chief. 
He made it a conditio sine qua non that Mr. Hamil- 
ton should be appointed to the post of second in 
command as Inspector-general. By this arrange- 
ment he would occupy the place of "Washington as 
military chief when the army was not engaged in 
actual service ; and in case of his death, which 
subsequently occurred, Hamilton would assume 
the post of commander-in-chief of the American 
armies. 

The moment the French Directory discovered that 
the United States had taken decisive steps of resist- 
ance and defense, they assumed a more rational and 
conciliatory tone. As soon as Congress uttered 
haughty and determined language, and impera- 
tively demanded a relinquishment of the arrogant 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 311 

and unjuHt claims of the French for large pecuniary 
advances, their communications were treated with 
more deference.* The Directory soon made indirect 
overtures of a pacific nature, and three American 
envoys were again sent to Paris. On their arrival, 
they found the French government sternly grasped 
by the strong arm of Napoleon ; with whom they 
soon succeeded in making an amicable adjustment 
of the differences between the two countries. Thus 
the evils of war were happily averted ; the blessings 
of peace were secured ; the Father of his country 
again, and for the last time, gracefully withdrew 
into the shades of retirement; and Hamilton pur- 
sued his professional career. During the period 
that an anticipated war with France occupied the 
public attention, Hamilton had published a series 
of essays under the titles of " The Stand" and " Titus 
Manlius," the purport and effect of which were, to 
arouse the country to a sense of their impending 
danger, and induce them to provide vigorous and 

• Actual hostilities had commenced at sea. Two severe and well 
fought conflicts took place between the American frigate Constella- 
tion, of thirty-eight guns, and the French frigate L'Insurgente, of 
forty; and between the Constellation and La Vengeance, of fifty guns. 
L'Insurgente was captured. La Vengeance after having struck her 
colors, escaped at night. These brilliant triumphs of Com. Trux- 
ton opened the eyes of the French Directory, and quickly modified 
their policy toward the United States. 



312 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

efficient means for the national defense.* Ilaniil- 
ton continued in the office of commander-in-chief 
of the American armies, to which post he succeeded 
on the death of Washington, until the disbandment 
of the forces in the summer of 1800. "While he 
occupied this high office he bestowed the most un- 
wearied effi^rts to the organization and discipline of 
the troops. He industriously studied the science of 
war, and its cognate themes of mathematics, geome- 
try and engineering. Had actual hostilities com- 
menced after the death of "Washington, Hamilton 
would doubtless have succeeded to the military fame 
and glory of that great man. It is scarcely possible 
to estimate the splendor of those achievements, 
which his transcendent abilities would have a- 
chieved in a high position so worthy of his genius, 
and in a glorious cause whose success so completely 
absorbed his sympathies. It is probable that Ha- 
milton would have stood second in the military 
annals of the nation, as he now stands in her civil 
history. In that case it is neither extravagant or 
rhapsodical to affirm that the celebrity which would 
surround the name of Hamilton would exceed that 
of any other statesman and hero of modern times. 
The prophetic and sagacious eye of Washington 

• See Works of Hamilton, by his son, Vol. VII., p. 590. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 313 

doubtless anticipated tliis result when he demanded 
the appointment of Hamilton as his coadjutor. It 
was at the termination of this service, when he 
again resumed his professional duties, that Mr. 
Hamilton declared with the proud independence of 
his nature, that he would never again accept of any 
public office, unless, in the event of a foreign war, 
he should be called on to expose his life in the ser- 
vice and defense of his country,* 

Having resumed once more his professional duties, 
it was not long before Mr. Hamilton was called 
upon to perform the last office of friendship for his 
illustrious friend Washington. With great pro- 
priety that distinguished sage and patriot deter- 
mined, before he left this stage of action, to bequeath 
to the country which he had so ably and faithfully 
served, a legacy of wise counsels, of sagacious prin- 
ciples, of prudent cautions, and of benignant prayers 
and blessings. Distrusting his own abilities as a 
writer, impaired as they somewhat were by the pro- 
gress of age and infirmity, to do full justice to his 
own thoughts and feelings on so memorable an 
occasion, he looked around him for a coadjutor 
among the statesmen of the land, to whose talents, 
prudence and patriotism he could intrust the first 

* See " Hamiltoniad," in two books. Philadelphia, 1804. Ap- 
pendix, p. 54. 

27 



814 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

draft of so important an instrument. It is not the 
least amons; the manv brilliant honors which so 
proudly cluster around the name and genius of 
Hamilton, that he, while still comparatively a young 
man, was selected by "Washington for that great 
task.* Never was a high and solemn trust more 
faithfully and ably executed. That sublime pro- 
duction known as Washington's Farewell Address, 
is an immortal legacy of inestimable political truth, 
not only to the freemen of our own confederacy, but 
to the whole human family, whose aspirations seek 
after the attainment of true liberty, elevation and 
felicity. Its style comports with the dignity of the 
subject and of the occasion ; and no more impres- 
sive spectacle is presented by the checkered page of 
history than the great Father of his Country, after 
having served her so well in both the highest mili- 
tary and civil trusts, voluntarily retiring to the 
shades of domestic repose, and thence, e'er he passes 
quietly from the scene which his matchless virtues 
had illumined with so many unfading splendors, 
addressing to his fellow-citizens counsels which, if 



• See Works of A. Hamilton, by his son, Vol. VII., p. 575, et seq. 
Hamilton also drafted Washington's Message to Congress relative to 
the Treaty with Great Britain ; and also Washington's Speech to 
Congress, December, 1796. See Hamilton's Works, Vol. VII., p. 
667, et seq. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 315 

followed would conduct their country, through long 
ages to come, along a pathway of unrivaled pros- 
perity, security and glory ! And how honorable 
was it that the youthful pen of Hamilton should 
have been selected from among those of many im- 
mortal men, to give force and utterance to the pre- 
cepts of such a man on such an occasion ! No 
observer of history can fail to note the contrast 
which exists between the farewell of Washington to 
the world, and that of Napoleon, his great rival in 
the supremacy of modern fame. The one is all 
serenity, tranquillity, joy, at the growing happiness 
of his country ; and satisfaction at the part which he 
had been permitted to play in her establishment 
and elevation. The other is furious and indig- 
nant as he is rudely expelled from the gilded halls 
of Fontainebleau by the fierce and revengeful 
power of a confederate continent which he had 
cursed and ruined. He execrates his evil fortune ; 
raves in impotent paroxysms of alternate fury and 
despair; and dies at last in exile on a detested 
rock, amid the ocean waste, uncheered either 
by pleasing recollections of the past or by 
grateful anticipations of the future ! Washington 
dies like a sage and a patriot; Napoleon fumes out 
the last remains of life as a brigand and an ad- 
venturer ! 



816 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Mr. Hamilton received the news of the death of 
his illustrious friend with sentiments of profound sor- 
row. He rightly appreciated the importance of that 
event; and felt that now the immense restraint which 
the exalted and severe virtue of Washino;ton had 
always exercised over the impulses of party discord 
would be removed ; and he viewed the consequences 
not without deep apprehension. But personal feel- 
ings also mingled with his emotions of regret. The 
venerable form of "Washington, and his wise coun- 
sels, were connected wdth the earliest associations 
of his own manhood. Together they had endured the 
toils, had fought the battles, had suffered the defeats, 
and had achieved the victories of the great Revolution. 
Together their patriotic hearts had exulted at its 
triumphant close ; and when the jubilant shouts of 
millions of freemen rent the heavens and shook 
the earth, they had shared their mutual and con- 
gratulatory joy. Together they had often contem- 
plated the sublime perspective of this vast republic, 
towering toward heaven in matchless symmetry, 
beauty and vigor, and extending its immense pro- 
portions over the whole length and breadth of the 
continent; and had rejoiced with a gratitude not un- 
mingled with fears, that they had been permitted to 
act so prominent a part in its creation. But now that 
confidential intercourse, so agreeable and so honor- 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 317 

able to botli, had forever terminated. Of all the 
statesmen who mourned the death of Washington, 
Hamilton felt the affliction the most deeply, and 
appreciated its importance the most profoundly. 

When reflecting upon the character and career 
of Washington which thus terminated, the mind 
becomes impressed with a degree of solemn awe 
and reverence which are inspired by the contem- 
plation of no other human being. We seem to be 
gazing upward to the summit of that Olympus on 
which he now serenely sits, as upon the form of 
one who belonged to that majestic race of beings 
to whom the ancient Greeks and Eomans ascribed 
qualities and honors almost divine, — to some mo- 
dern Achilles, Hercules, or Theseus. Other dis- 
tinguished men inspire us with a noble, but with 
a much less profound and impressive, sentiment. 
Frederic the Great excites our admiration for his 
superior strategic skill as a warrior. William Pitt 
and Hamilton extort our applause for the splendor 
of their stately and resistless eloquence. We com- 
mend Marlborough and Wellington for their uni- 
form and singular success on the battle-field. We 
admire Metternich and Talleyrand for the profun- 
dity and intricacy of their state-craft. We at once 
praise and pity Napoleon for the grandeur and the 
insanity both of his intellect and his ambition. 
27* 



318 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

But to Washington alone, of all illustrious men, do 
we ascribe tlie full perfection of heroism ; and him 
only do we contemplate with a reverence and ad- 
miration which are unmixed with the slightest alloy 
of censure, untarnished by the least sentiment of 
detraction. Of him alone can we say that his va- 
rious qualities were precisely such, and so propor- 
tioned and balanced, as, under the peculiar circum- 
stances of the case, all wise and good men would 
wish them to have been. In a word, Washington 
was a masterpiece of human excellence on whom 
no improvement could scarcely have been efiected, 
even by that great creative power which first called 
him into existence ! 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ^ 319 



CHAPTER XIV. 

NEW YORK POLITICAL PARTIES — THEIR ORIGIN AND HISTORY — THE WHIGS 
AND TORIES — GENERAL SCHUYLER — GEORGE CLINTON — AARON BURR — 
HIS POLITICAL CAREER — BURR'S EFFORTS IN 1800 TO SECURE THE 
TRIUMPH OP THE ANTI-FEDERAL PARTY IN NEW YORK — HAMILTON'S 
ENERGETIC EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THEM — BURR ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES — DEATH OP HAMILTON'S SON IN A DUEL — OB- 
SERVATIONS OF BURR IN REFERENCE TO THIS ETENT. 

Although it had been Hamilton's settled pur- 
pose, after removing tlie helmet from his brow and 
resuming his professional life in New York, to con- 
fine himself chiefly to professional duty, yet his 
great eminence as a statesman naturally placed him 
at the head of the federal party in that State, and 
drew him into co-operation with the measures of 
its leaders. The federal administration of the elder 
Adams gradually became unpopular with the na- 
tion. The death of "Washington, the acknowledged 
chief of the party, completed the certainty of its down- 
fall. Mr. Hamilton having retired both before and 
during the administration of Mr. Adams from all 
participation in the direction of public afi'airs, was 
not in the least degree responsible for the errors of 
that administration. When Mr, Jefierson was 



820 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

elected President, Hamilton became the leader of 
the federal opposition in the State of New York. 
In order to appreciate his position and his policy in 
this new sphere, it will be necessary for us very 
briefly to survey the rise and progress of the two 
great parties into which that State was divided, at 
the period of Mr. Hamilton's life which now comes 
under consideration. 

Immediately after the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, two parties were formed in the State of New 
York — the whigs and tories. In a short time the 
whigs became themselves divided into subordinate 
factions. At the first State election which followed, 
in 1777, General Schuyler was the candidate of the 
one for the office of governor, and Mr. George 
Clinton became the candidate of the other. The 
latter was successful; and from that day the hosti- 
lity between the two parties was continued and 
gradually augmenting. Thus in 1780 General 
Schuyler became a candidate for a seat in Congress; 
but was beaten by L'IIommidieu,the representative 
of the Clinton faction. 

As will readily he supposed, Mr. Hamilton, being 
a relative of General Schuyler, as well as a fede- 
ralist in sentiment, harmonized from the first with 
the party of that leader. His superior talents gra- 
dually gave him a prominence among them. That 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 321 

party tlien included among their numloer many of 
the oldest and most influential families of the Colo- 
nial era — the Jays, the Livingstons, the Van lien- 
sellaers, the Bensons, the Yaricks. In January, 
1788, the Legislature directed a State Convention to 
be called, to whom the adoption of the federal 
Constitution should be referred. In this Conven- 
tion the Schuyler party first received the specific 
epithet of federals, and the Clinton party that of 
anti-federals. The former were more powerful 
than their opponents in the southern district of New 
York. By their influence the federal Constitution 
was finally adopted by the State. About the year 
1784, Aaron Burr first began to assume a promi- 
nent position in the anti-federal or whig party. He 
was at that time elected by them to represent the 
city and county of New York in the Legislature. 
In 1789 he was appointed through their influence 
the Attorney-General of the State. By them he 
was elected in 1791 a Senator of the United States. 
Through their assistance he was afterward chosen 
to the oflSce of Judge of the Supreme Court. He 
still remained one of their leaders and favorites 
until he was elected a member, and even the presi- 
dent, of the Convention which was called to revise 
the Constitution of the State ; and by their influence 
and intrigues he was at last elevated, in 1800, to 



322 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the high dignity of Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Soon after the adoption of the new State Consti- 
tution the anti-federal party became known by a 
designation which more clearly and accurately ex- 
pressed their sentiments, and were called demo- 
crats. From the year 1790 to 1800 these two 
parties were alternately triumphant in the State and 
city of New York. The federal party were desir- 
ous that the United States should engage in a war 
with France; the democrats opposed it. During 
the administration of Mr. Adams party-spirit ran 
so high, and became so bitter, that it was deemed 
advisable for the security of the public peace to pass 
a sedition law. Soon the democratic party in the 
State became subdivided into three factions. The 
Clintons led the first ; the Livingstons, who had de- 
serted the federalists, the second; Aaron Burr the 
third. The superior talents of this last individual 
had excited the apprehensions and the hostility of 
the other two parties ; and their opposition to him 
was chiefly one of personal dislike and not of poli- 
tical principle or antagonism. 

In 1800 Mr. Burr put forth his utmost exertions 
to unite together these three different factions of 
the democratic party. He succeeded in combining 
them on the ticket nominated in the city of ISTew 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 323 

York for the Assembly. That ticket included such 
men as George Clinton, Horatio Gates, Brockholst 
Livingston, John Swartwout, and Henry Rutgers. 
These were among the most eminent and popular 
citizens in the State. The federal party, headed 
by Mr. Hamilton, made prodigious exertions to 
defeat this ticket. Both Mr. Burr and Mr. Hamil- 
ton were incessantly active ; and even at the polls 
they endeavored to influence the votes of the citi- 
zens. Sometimes they met at the same places, and 
alternately addressed the crowds in able and elo- 
quent harangues. On the 1st of May, 1800, the 
polls were closed. After a hard struggle the demo- 
crats triumphed. The downfall of the federalists 
seemed to be complete and final. The latter were 
then disposed to adopt the most ultra measures to 
prevent so unfortunate a result ; and the report was 
current that, having at that time a majority in the 
Legislature, they proposed to Governor Jay to sum- 
mon an extra session of that body, for the purpose 
of changing the mode of choosing the electors for 
President of the United States, and placing the 
selection in the hands of the people hy districts. 
This expedient would have given the federalists a 
majority in the ensuing ballot for President and Vice- 
President ; and this result would have altered the 
whole aspect of American affairs. The proposition 



324 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

was in fact made to Governor Jay, himself a fede- 
ralist, but lie refused to acquiesce in its execution, 
because it seemed to him to be a measure of doubt- 
ful propriety and expediency. 

In the year 1800 the administration of Mr. Adams 
drew near its close. The political excitement 
which pervaded the country was intense. The can- 
didates for the offices of President and Vice-Presi- 
dent were Adams and Jefferson, Charles Pinckney 
and Burr. During the summer of 1800 Mr. Ha- 
milton wrote an elaborate pamphlet, entitled "A 
letter from Alexander Hamilton concerning the 
public conduct and character of John Adams, Esq., 
President of the United States." Its object was to 
secure the vote of the State of South Carolina in 
favor of Mr. Pinckney ; and the intention had been 
to circulate it extensively in that State immediately 
before the election. This would probably have 
given Mr. Pinckney a majority of votes in the elec- 
toral college over Mr. Adams, by which means the 
latter would have been chosen to the Vice-Presi- 
dency only. Yet the two highest offices in the na- 
tion would still have been occupied by federalists. 

Mr. Burr now adopted an expedient by which he 
supposed that the forces of the federal party might 
be efiectually distracted, and the democratic inte- 
rests be promoted in those States in which the elee- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 325 

tion had not yet taken place. Mr. Hamilton's 
pamphlet was then passing through the press. A 
copy of it was secretly obtained by Burr, and ex- 
tracts from it were published in the Aurora and 
the JVew London Bee. The consequences of this 
maneuver were such as its shrewd projector had 
anticipated. The federal party instantly became 
violently convulsed; and at length it split into two 
hostile fragments. It occasioned the total defeat 
of the federal party in South Carolina. The saga- 
cious measures and restless activity of Mr. Burr 
at length secured the entire defeat of the federal 
party in 1800, and completed the revolution which 
then took place in the politics of the country. 

The democratic party were triumphant. Demo- 
cratic electors were chosen by the legislatures of a 
majority of the States. When the college convened 
two candidates for the presidency were found to 
have enlisted all their sufltrages. These were Messrs. 
Jefferson and Burr. At first Mr. Burr was only 
designed for the office of Vice-President; but 
when the balloting began it appeared that he had 
an equal number of votes with Mr. Jefferson. In 
this emergency, according to the provisions of the 
Constitution, the decision devolved upon the House 
of Representatives. Thirty-five ballots were taken, 
and the same proportion of votes and the same iu- 
28 



326 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

decisive result prevailed. The whole number of 
electoral votes given were one hundred and thirty- 
eight. Seventy of these were necessary to a choice. 
Both candidates numbered seventy-three votes. 
Georgia polled four votes. It was contended that 
these had been illegally returned. If they had been 
deducted from the ballots, neither candidate would 
have had a competent number of votes. A union 
might then have been made with the federal elec- 
tors in the college. But that expedient was not 
resorted to. On the thirty-sixth ballot, which took 
place on the 17th February, 1801, Mr. Jefferson 
was declared duly elected. He had received the 
votes of ten States, which gave him the requisite 
majority. Aaron Burr having received the next 
highest number of votes, was chosen Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

In reference to the details of this celebrated con- 
test, various rumors were prevalent at the time 
derogatory to the integrity both of Jefferson and 
Burr. One of these, referring to the latter, was, 
that he had secretly connived with the federalists in 
order to obtain the predominance over Mr. Jeffer- 
son. So generally was this report circulated and 
believed, that from that moment Burr began to 
lose the confidence and favor of the democratic 
party. He published a statement in vindication of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 327 

himself, in a letter to Governor Bloomfield of New 
Jersey, in September, 1802, in which he denied the 
charge. It is a circumstance worthy of note, as 
illustrating the great magnanimity and honesty of 
Mr. Hamilton, that although this accusation pre- 
vailed very shortly after the infamous trick of Burr, 
by which he had divided and shattered the federal 
party, yet Hamilton directly declared in a written 
and published communication, that he had no per- 
sonal knowledge of, or belief in, the existence of 
any negotiations between Mr. Burr and the mem- 
bers of the federal party.* 

The opponents of Mr. Hamilton did not recipro- 
cate these feelings of just and impartial forbearance. 
He and his friends became the objects of the most 
unrelenting persecution. The press was particu- 
larly vile and calumnious on this occasion ; and 
some of its members even went so far as to charg-e 
Mr. Hamilton with a design to establish a mon- 
archy in the United States, on the ruins of the 
federal government, which he himself had aided so 
efficiently to erect. This last charge, publicly re- 
peated by the president of a political club, in a writ- 
ten and printed address, excited the indignation of 
Philip Hamilton, the eldest son of General Hamil- 

• See New York Evening Post, October 13th, 1802. 



328 THE LIFE /XD TIMES 

ton, to such a degree, that he challenged the un- 
principled slanderer of his father's fame. The 
combatants met, and the unfortunate result of 
the conflict was, that Philip Hamilton fell a victim 
to the vileness of political hatred, and to mis- 
taken notions both of chivalrous honor and of 
filial duty.* 

During the administration of Jefferson, the fede- 
ral party in New York formed a respectable mino- 
rity. Burr supposed that, by the union of his 
numerous personal friends with the democratic 
forces, and by means of an accomplished fusion with 
a portion of the federal party, he might be elected 
Governor of that State. Accordingly in February, 
1804, he was nominated for that office by a public 
meeting in the city of New York, composed of per- 
sons belonging to these three classes. Morgan 
Lewis w^as nominated by the opposing faction. 
Both candidates were democrats, and both received 



• Aaron Burr writes in the following cool and satirical manner 
to his idolized daughter, the beautiful Theodosia, in reference to 
this sad event : 

" You have learned from the newspapers (which you never read) 
the death of Philip Hamilton. Shot in a duel with Backer, th« 
lawyer. Some dispute at a theatre, arising, as is said, out of poli- 
tics. Th* story is variously related ; will give you a concise 

summary of the facts, in fifteen sheets of paper, with comments, 
and moral and sentimental reflections. To this I take the liberty of 
referring you. A. BURR." 



or ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 329 

the support of portions of tlie democratic and fede- 
ral parties. The excitement became intense. Never 
had political and personal hostility been displayed 
in so extreme a degree. General Hamilton regard- 
ing Burr as an unprincipled and dangerous man, 
exerted all his influence, as might have been ex- 
pected, to defeat his election. The press teemed 
with the most atrocious libels ; but in these Hamil- 
ton had no share. The result of the canvass was 
that Burr was defeated; and the activity and in- 
fluence of Hamilton mainly contributed to the 
accomplishment of so desirable a result. The State 
of New York was thus rescued from the ofiicial in- 
fluence and presence of a man, whom the general 
and impartial voice of the nation, and of the world, 
has since stigmatized precisely in the terms em- 
ployed in reference to him by Mr. Hamilton. 
They have marked him as a dangerous, unscru- 
pulous, and unprincipled aspirant; over whose 
able mind principle and duty exercised no sway; 
and as one who deserves to occupy a place in 
history hard by the bad and ignominious eminence 
which has been accorded to Benedict Arnold. 
28* 



330 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER XV. 

GROWING HOSTILITY BETWEEN BITRR AND HAMILTON — THEIR RESPECTIVE 
QUALITIES AND DISSIMILARITY OP CHARACTERS — BURR BECOMES A 
CANDIDATE FOB THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK — HE IS DE- 
FEATED BY THE EFFORTS OP HAMILTON — COMMUNICATION OP DR. 
COOPER — FIRST LETTER OF BURR TO HAMILTON — HAMILTON'S REPLY — 
THE SUCCEEDING CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THEM — FUTILE EFFORTS 
AT CONCILIATION. 

We have now arrived at that melancholy crisis in 
the career of this celebrated man, at wlii-ch he be- 
came the victim of the malignant hate and insatia- 
ble vengeance of his ancient foe. The hostility and 
rivalry which existed between Burr and Hamilton 
had been of long standing. The dissimilarity which 
existed in their moral natures would inevitably have 
brought them into collision. Burr was craft}^, sel- 
fish, unscrupulous, and ambitious. He could as- 
sume all shapes and forms of political and moral 
character, in order to promote his personal interests. 
His chief agents and favorite means in the accom- 
plishment of his ends were secresy and cunning. 
From his youth he delighted to throw a vail of ob- 
scurity and darkness over all his actions, even where 
obscurity and darkness were not necessary to the 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 331 

attainment of success. In weaving the intricate 
mazes of political intrigue, in the skillful use of 
unscrupulous means, in the concentration and com- 
bination of efl'ective forces and heterogeneous ele- 
ments, in perseverance amid difficulties, in fortitude 
in the midst of dangers, in coolness, calmness, and 
determination, Aaron Burr had no superior among 
modern statesmen. He was eloquent ; but his elo- 
quence was simple, unstrained, unadorned, and dis- 
played its superior power only by the effectiveness 
with which it commanded the reasons and swayed the 
wills of men. He cared but little for his country's 
glory ; his only idol was himself. He entertained 
no faith in moral obligations ; scarcely believed in 
the existence of a supreme governor of the Uni- 
verse; and was, in every sense, a great, gifted, cor- 
rupt, and dangerous man. 

Alexander Hamilton was directly the opposite of 
his rival, both in his mental and moral qualities. 
He was honest and consistent in his political belief. 
He was very open, candid, and impulsive in his 
nature. He too was eloquent; but his eloquence 
was stately, gorgeous, ornate, and polished. He 
more nearly resembled Edmund Burke both as a 
writer, a speaker, and a statesman, than any other 
distinguished man of modern times; There was no se- 
cresy, craft, or duplicity in his composition. He loved 



332 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

his country with a lofty, generous and disinterested 
patriotism ; and to her glory his great talents and 
unwearied services were constantly devoted. He 
was no civilized heathen ; but believed in the Chris- 
tian faith, acknowledged the moral obligation of 
man to his Creator, and was guided in general by 
a regard to the claims of moral duty.* The best 
estimate of his character may be drawn from the 
single fact that, until "Washington's death, he re- 
mained his bosom friend, his chief favorite, his inti- 
mate and confidential associate. f 



• In contrast with this clement in Hamilton's character, the 
reader may infer, from the following extract, that of Hamilton's 
great political opponent, Thomas JefiFerson, the leading anti-fede- 
ralist : — 

In a letter of May 1st, 1794, to Tench Coxe, he thus vents his 
indignation and hatred against kings and priests: — "Your letters 
give a comfortable view of French affairs, and later events seem to 
confirm it. Over the foreign powers, I am convinced they will 
triumph completely ; and I cannot but hope that that triumph, and 
the consequent disgrace of the invading tyrants, is destined, in the 
order of events, to kindle the wrath of the people of Europe against 
those who have dared to embroil them in such wickedness, and to 
bring at length, kings, nobles, and priests to the scaflFolds which 
they have been so long deluging with human blood. I am still warm 
whenever I think of these scoundrels, though I do it as seldom as I 
can, preferring infinitely to contemplate the tranquil growth of my 
lucerne and potatoes." 

■j- That Hamilton was ambitious will not be denied; but his was 
an honorable ambition, and such as Washington himself describes 
it, in a letter to John Adams dated " Mount Vernon, September 
25th, 1798." "An ambition of that laudable kind which prompts a 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 833 

Between such men as Burr and Hamilton a deter- 
mined hostility was inevitable. Even had they not 
been political rivals, the opposition of their personal 
qualities would have made them detest each other; 
but when the former cause of dislike was super- 
added to the latter, their antagonism became bitter 
and irreconcilable. This feeling reached its climax 
during the contest for governor in the State of New 
York in 1804, when Hamilton succeeded in defeat- 
ing the aspirations of Burr for the gubernatorial 
chair. Burr, irritated and incensed beyond mea- 
sure at this result, determined to wreak a deadly 
and implacable revenge; a revenge which would 
be satiated only by the blood of his intended victim. 
He industriously sought a pretext for that pur- 
pose ; nor was he long in finding one suited to his 
infamous design. Among the many and virulent 
libels with which the press had teemed during 
the contest, not a few of the most irresponsible of 
them meddled with the name of Hamilton, as 
being the chief opponent of Burr ; and one of 
these libels, written by Charles D. Cooper, was seized 
upon by Burr as suitable to the accomplishment of 
his intended vengeance. 

a man to execel in whatever he takes in hand. He is entei-- 
prising, quick in his perceptions, and his judgment is intuitively 
great." 



334 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

On the 17th of June, 1804, Burr informed his 
intimate friend Judge Van Ness, that he had de- 
termined to demand from General Hamilton an 
explanation and an apology for the various censures 
which, at different times, he had passed upon his 
personal and political character. He pointed out to 
Mr. Van Ness a letter contained in a published 
journal and signed by Dr. Cooper, in which that wri- 
ter used these emphatic words to his correspondent : 
" I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion 
which G-eneral Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr.'' 
Burr requested Mr. Van Ness to deliver to Mr. Ha- 
milton a note upon the subject. Mr. Van Ness 
complied ; and on the same day the following letter 
was conveyed to Mr. Hamilton : " Sir : — I send for 
your perusal a letter signed Charles D. Cooper, 
which, though apparently published some time ago, 
has but very recently come to my knowledge. Mr. 
Van Ness, who does me the favor to deliver this, 
will point out to you that clause of the letter to 
which I particularly request your attention. 

" You must perceive, sir, the necessity of a 
prompt and unqualified acknowledgment or denial 
of the use of any expressions which would warrant 
the assertions of Mr. Cooper. I have the honor to 
be your obedient servant, wc." 

Upon reading the note of Burr, and the clause 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 335 

pointed out by Mr. Van Ness, Hamilton replied 
that the matter demanded some consideration be- 
fore he would be prepared to give an answer. Se- 
veral days afterward Hamilton wrote and deliv- 
ered the following answer to the letter of Mr. Burr: 

" New York, June 20, 1804. 

"Sir : I have maturely reflected on the subject of 
your letter of the 18th inst., and the more I have 
reflected the more I have become convinced that I 
could not, without manifest impropriety, make the 
avowal or disavowal which you seem to think ne- 
cessary. The clause pointed out by Mr. Van Ness 
is in these terms: 'I could detail to you a still 
more despicable opinion which General Hamilton 
has expressed of Mr. Burr.' To endeavor to dis- 
cover the meaning of this declaration, I was obliged 
to seek in the antecedent part of this letter for the 
opinion to which it referred as having been already 
disclosed. I found it in these words : ' General 
Hamilton and Judge Kent have declared, in sub- 
stance, that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dari' 
gerous man, and one wJio ought not to be trusted with 
the reins of government.' 

" The language of Doctor Cooper plainly implies 
that he considered this opinion of you, which he 
attributes to me, as a despicable one ; but he affirms 
that I have expressed some other more despicable, 



836 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

without, however, mentioning to whom, when, or 
where. 'Tis evident that the phrase 'still more 
despicable' admits of infinite shades, from very 
light to very dark. How am I to judge of the de- 
gree intended ? Or how shall I annex any precise 
idea to language so indefinite ? 

" Between gentlemen, despicable and more despicable 
are not worth the pains of distinction ; when, there- 
fore, you do not interrogate me as to the opinion 
which is specifically ascribed to me, I must con- 
clude that you view it as within the limits to which 
the animadversions of political opponents upon 
each other may justifiably extend, and, conse- 
quently, as not warranting the idea which Doctor 
Cooper appears to entertain. If so, what precise 
inference could you draw as a guide for your con- 
duct, were I to acknowledge that I had expressed 
an opinion of you still more despicable than the one 
which is particularized ? How could you be sure 
that even this opinion had exceeded the bounds 
which you would yourself deem admissible between 
political opponents ? 

" But I forbear further comment on the embarrass- 
ment to which the requisition you have made natu- 
rally leads. The occasion forbids a more ample 
illustration, though nothing could be more easy 
than to pursue it. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 33T 

" Repeating that I cannot reconcile it with pro- 
priety to make the acknowledgment or denial you 
desire, I will add that I deem it inadmissible, on 
principle, to consent to be interrogated as to the 
justice of the inferences which may be drawn by 
others from whatever I have said of a political op- 
ponent in the course of fifteen years' competition. 
If there were no other objection to it, this is suffi- 
cient, that it would tend to expose my sincerity and 
delicacy to injurious imputations from every person 
who may at any time have conceived the import of my 
expressions difierently from what I may then have 
intended or may afterward recollect. I stand ready 
to avow or disavow promptly and explicitly any 
precise or definite opinion which I may be charged 
with having declared of any gentleman. More than 
this cannot fitly be expected from me ; and, espe- 
cially, it cannot be reasonably expected that I shall 
enter into any explanation upon a basis so vague 
as that you have adopted. I trust, on more reflec- 
tion, you will see the matter in the same light with 
me. If not, I can only regret the circumstance, 
and must abide the consequences. 

"The publication of Doctor Cooper was never seen 
by me till after the receipt of your letter. I have 
the honor to be, &c." 

This letter, which so clearly and fairly points out 
29 



338 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the ambiguity of the charge made against him, 
and the obvious unfairness of holding himself re- 
sponsible for the inferences which other persons 
may be disposed to draw from his conduct and lan- 
guage, was delivered to Mr. Burr on the 21st of June. 
The following reply was then sent by him to Mr. 
Hamilton: "Sir: Your letter of the 20th has been 
this day received. Having considered it atten- 
tively, I regret to find in it nothing of that since- 
rity and delicacy which you profess to value. 

"Political opposition can never absolve gentle- 
men from the necessity of a rigid adherence to the 
laws of honor and the rules of decorum. I neither 
claim such privilege, nor indulge it in others. 

" The common sense of mankind affixes to the 
epithet adopted by Dr. Cooper the idea of dishonor. 
It has been publicly applied to me under the sanc- 
tion of your name. The question is not whether 
he has understood the meaning of the word, or has 
used it according to syntax, and with grammatical 
accuracy; but whether you have authorized this 
application, either directly or by uttering expres- 
sions or opinions derogatory to my honor. The 
time 'when' is in your own knowledge, but no way 
material to me, as the calumny has now first been 
disclosed so as to become the subject of my notice, 
and as the effect is present and palpable. Your 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 339 

letter has furnished me with new reasons for requir- 
ing a definite reply. I have the honor to be your 
obedient servant, &c." 

On reading this letter Mr. Hamilton remarked, 
that it was not such a one as he had hoped to have 
received. He observed that it contained several 
expressions which were offensive, and seemed to 
prevent any further reply. He contended to Mr. 
Van Ness, that Mr. Burr should have demanded 
more specifically what he had said in the hearing 
of the informant, Dr. Cooper, in order that he 
might make either an explanation, a denial, or an 
acknowledgment. He would have given such a re- 
sponse frankly as the truth in the case might have 
demanded. Mr. Hamilton then informed Mr. Van 
Ness, that for the purpose of giving further oppor- 
tunity for the adjustment of the difiiculty, he would 
consider the last letter of Colonel Burr as with- 
drawn ; but if that proposal was not agreeable, Mr. 
Hamilton had no further reply to make, and Mr. 
Burr must pursue such a course as he deemed pro- 
per in the premises. Mr. Hamilton requested Mr. 
Van Ness to convey these sentiments to Mr. Burr, 
and offered to commit his refusal to answer in writ- 
ing if Mr. Van Ness desired it; which offer that 
gentleman declined. 

This reply was reported to Burr, who then re- 



340 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

sided at his couutry-housc in tlie vicinity of New 
York, on the same day. Mr. Van I'^ess received an 
answer the next day to the letter of Mr. Hamilton, 
from his antagonist. That letter was not delivered 
in consequence of the absence of Mr. Hamilton at 
his summer residence at Richmond Hill, near IS'ew 
York; hut Mr. Van Ness informed Mr. Hamilton 
by letter that he desired to wait upon him, and 
wished to know when he was at leisure to receive 
him. To this note Mr. Hamilton wrote the follow- 
ing reply : " Sir : — I was in town to-day till half-past 
one. I thank you for the delicacy which dictated 
your note to me. If it is indispensable the com- 
munication should be made before Monday morn- 
ing, I must receive it here; but I should think this 
cannot be important.* On Monday, by nine o'clock, 
I shall be in town at my house in Cedar street, No. 
52, where I should be glad to see you. An addi- 
tional reason for preferring this is, that I am unwil- 
ling to occasion you trouble. With esteem I am 
your obedient servant, &c." 

The next day, Saturday, June 22d, Mr. Hamilton 
called upon Mr. Pendleton, his personal friend, and 
communicated to him the incidents which had oc- 
curred. He informed him that he considered the 

* Mr. Van Ness had abstained from conveying a challenge to Mr. 
Hamilton at his country residence, as his family were then residing 
there with him. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 841 

letters of Burr rude and offensive, and that he could 
not perceive how it was possible for him to return 
any other answer to them than he had done ; that 
he had proposed that Mr. Burr should withdraw 
the second letter, which was the most offensive of 
the two, in order that he might substitute for it one 
which would admit of a conciliatory answer. Mr. 
Hamilton then gave Mr. Pendleton, who was to 
act as his second in the anticipated meeting, the 
following letter to be delivered to Mr. Van Ness. 

" New York, June 22, 1804. 

" Sir : Your first letter, in a style too peremptory, 
made a demand, in my opinion, unprecedented and 
unwarrantable. My answer, pointing out the em- 
barrassment, gave you an opportunity to take a less 
exceptionable course. You have not chosen to do 
it ; but, by your last letter, received this day, con- 
taining expressions indecorous and improper, you 
have increased the difficulties to explanation intrin- 
sically incident to the nature of your application. 

"If by a 'definite reply' you mean the direct 
avowal or disavowal required in your first letter, I 
have no other answer to give than that which has 
already been given. If you mean any thing differ- 
ent, admitting of greater latitude, it is requisite you 
should explain. 

" I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
29* Alex. Hamilton." 



342 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CPIAPTER XVI. 

burr's explanation of his grievances — MR. VAN NESS — JUDGE PEN- 
DLETON — Hamilton's honorable concessions — burr challenges 

HAMILTON — THE CHALLENGE ACCEPTED — FURTHER ATTEMPTS OP JUDGE 
PENDLETON TO CONCILIATE AND AVOID A MEETING — HIS FAILURE. 

At nine o'clock on Monday, June 25tb, Mr. Van 
Ness called at the town residence of Mr. Hamilton, 
No. 52 Cedar street, for tlie purpose of receiving a 
reply from him, delivering an invitation to the 
field, and making some verbal statements from Mr. 
Burr, explanatory of his position and his feelings. 
Mr. Burr had instructed Mr. Van N'ess to say, that 
he did not believe that a political rivalry should au- 
thorize any liberties, which were otherwise unwar- 
ranted, to be taken between the respective parties. 
He held that his own conduct toward his political 
opponents had always been to speak of them with 
respect, either to do justice to their merit, or else 
to be silent as to their defects ; and that this 
had invariably been his course in reference to 
Jay, Adams, Hamilton, and his other political ri- 
vals. Mr. Burr believed that there had been no 
reciprocity of this generous feeling on the part 
of Mr. Hamilton ; and that for several years he 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 343 

had approved the basest slanders which had been 
propagated in reference to him. He declined to 
particularize these offenses, as that course would 
only increase the existing irritation ; but having 
exercised a forbearance which had at length as- 
sumed the form even of humiliation, he had deter- 
mined to go no further. He had come to the con- 
clusion that Mr. Hamilton entertained the settled 
purpose to insult and disgrace him; to violate all the 
courtesies of life toward him ; to persist in a con- 
firmed and implacable malevolence against him ; and 
Mr. Burr therefore had no other alternative than to 
adopt the course which he had chosen. He did not 
seek revenge ; he only desired to vindicate his honor. 
Mr. Yan Ness was then about to ofier Hamilton 
the challenge of Burr when he replied, that he had 
prepared a written answer to Mr. Burr's last letter, 
which he had given to Judge Pendleton to be de- 
livered to him. Mr. Van Ness replied that he had 
understood Mr. Hamilton, at the conclusion of their 
last interview, to decline giving any written response 
to Col. Burr's preceding letter ; but that if he had 
concluded to do otherwise, he would be pleased to re- 
ceive it. He accordingly called on Mr. Pendleton, 
and received from him the communication of Mr. 
Hamilton for Mr. Burr, contained in the conclusion 
of the preceding chapter. After that letter had 



344 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

been conveyed to Mr. Burr another interview fol- 
lowed between the seconds ; at which Mr. Van 
I*Tess informed Mr. Pendleton that the letter had 
been delivered, and that, in the opinion of Mr. Burr 
it amounted to nothing more than the verbal reply 
he had already received, and that it left the whole 
business precisely where it then was ; that Mr. Burr 
had explicitly stated what his grounds of complaint 
were against Mr. Hamilton, for which he had de- 
manded reparation ; and that he did not choose to 
make any more minute explanation on the subject. 
What Mr. Burr peremptorily demanded was, a 
general disavowal on the part of Mr. Hamilton of 
any intention, at any time or place, to utter ex- 
pressions derogatory to his honor. Mr. Pendleton 
informed Mr. Van Ness that he believed Mr. 
Hamilton would have no objection and find no dif- 
ficulty in making such a declaration, and projDOsed 
to wait on him to ascertain whether such was the 
fact. The interview was then suspended for that 
purpose. Mr. Pendleton called on Mr. Hamilton 
in order to ascertain his wishes on that point. The 
latter at once declined making any such avowal, 
which would have been both derogatory to his own 
honor and inconsistent with the truth. Mr. Pen- 
dleton informed Mr. Van Ness of the result of his 
interview with Mr. Hamilton ; but he further inti- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 345 

mated to him tliat if a letter was written to Mr. 
Hamilton, which would enable him to explain whe- 
ther he had charged Colonel Burr with any parti- 
cular instance of dishonorable conduct, or had in 
any way impeached his private character in any 
conversation alluded to by Dr. Cooper, or in any 
other instance which might be specified, Mr. Ha- 
milton would then be able to answer consistently 
with his honor and the truth; that the conversation 
held with Dr. Cooper by him alluded entirely to 
political subjects; that it did not attribute to him 
any instance of dishonorable conduct, and did noi 
refer to his private character. Mr. Hamilton in- 
structed his friend further to state, that if Mr. Burr 
would specify any other particular language or con 
versation, in which he charged that his honor had 
been assailed, Mr. Hamilton would at once return a 
frank avowal or denial, as the case might be.* 

Every impartial person will suppose that this 
statement would have satisfied even the punctilious 
enmity of Colonel Burr. The latter had charged 



* Mr. Hamilton instructed Pendleton to say more explicitly that 
the exact expressions of the conversation held with Dr. Cooper, at 
Albany, he could not remember, but to the best of his recollection 
it consisted of comments on the political principles and views of 
Colonel Burr, and the results which might be expected from them, 
in the event of his election as governor, icilhout reference to any 
particular itistance of past conduct, or to his private character. 



346 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Mr. Hamilton with insulting bis honor in a conver- 
sation with Dr. Cooper. No particular words were 
specified ; the complaint was general, and referred 
to the conversation as a whole. In answer to that 
charge Mr, Hamilton replies in general, that no 
insult or injury to the private character of Mr. Burr 
was intended in the conversation alluded to by Dr. 
Cooper — the very one specified by Mr. Burr, as 
containing the objectionable expressions. But Col. 
Burr was determined not to be satisfied with any 
fair and just explanation. He thirsted for the blood 
of his adversary ; and nothing but such a dishonor- 
able avowal as he knew Mr. Hamilton was the last of 
living men to make, would propitiate him. He in- 
formed Mr. Pendleton therefore, through Mr. Van 
Ness, that he considered Mr. Hamilton's proposition 
as a mere evasion, which exhibited a desire to leave 
the injurious impressions which had been made by 
his slanderous statements still in existence ; and that 
having begun to vindicate his honor he should per- 
sist in it till that vindication was complete. The 
communication of Mr. Van Ness to Mr. Pendleton, 
expressive of the views of Mr. Burr, was as follows : 
"Sir: The letter which you yesterday delivered 
to me, and your subsequent communication, in Co- 
lonel Burr's opinion, evince no disposition on the 
part of General Hamillou to conii^^to a satisfactory 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 347 

accommodation. The injury complained of and the 
reparation expected are so definitely expressed in 
Colonel Burr's letter of the 21st instant, that there 
is not perceived a necessity for further explanation 
on his part. The difficulty that would result from 
confining the inquiry to any particular times and 
occasions must be manifest. The denial of a speci- 
fied conversation only would leave strong implica- 
tion that on other occasions improper language had 
been used. "When and where injurious opinions 
and expressions had been uttered by General Hamil- 
ton must be best known to him, and of him only 
will Colonel Burr inquire. No denial or declaration 
will be satisfactory unless it be general, so as wholly 
to exclude the idea that rumors derogatory to 
Colonel Burr's honor has originated with General 
Hamilton, or have been fairly inferred from any 
thing he has said. A definite reply to a requisition 
of this nature was demanded by Colonel Burr's 
letter of the 21st instant. This being refused, in- 
vites the alternative alluded to in General Hamil- 
ton's letter of the 20th. 

"It was required by the position in which the 
controversy was placed by General Hamilton on 
Friday (June 22d) last, and I was immediately fur- 
nished with a communication demanding a personal 
interview. The necessity of this measure has not, 



348 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

in the opinion of Colonel Burr, been diminished by 
the general's last letter, or any communication 
which has since been received. I am, consequently, 
again instructed to deliver you a message as soon 
as it may be convenient for you to receive it. I 
beg, therefore, you will be so good as to inform 
me at what hour I can have the pleasure of seeing 
you. Your most obedient and humble servant, 
&c." 

On communicating to Mr. Hamilton the contents 
of this letter, he at once perceived the determina- 
tion of Colonel Burr not to 'be appeased. He saw 
that his antagonist instead of facilitating an accom- 
modation, had even enlarged and extended the 
grounds of inquiry ; and instead of proposing a spe- 
cific case for explanation and adjustment, had un- 
warrantably demanded what was in substance the 
same as an examination into all his most confiden- 
tial correspondence and conversations, during the 
whole period of his acquaintance with Colonel Burr. 
He asserted that he was willing to meet any parti- 
cular case, when specified, with a full acknowledg- 
ment or denial ; but he declared that he could not be 
called upon to answer at large every thing that he 
may have said at any time or place in reference to 
Mr. Burr. He justly refused to be interrogated 
generally as to all the countless rumors which were 



or ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 349 

afloat derogatory to the character of Colonel Burr, 
many of which were doubtless even unknown to 
him, Nevertheless he asserts his unwillingness to 
come to any explanation or accommodation of the 
difficulty, unless it be a perfectly honorable one. 
He added that he saw very clearly, in the course of 
conduct pursued by Mr. Burr, a predetermined hos- 
tility which, he did not doubt, would be still ad- 
hered to, and which precluded the possibility of an 
amicable arrangement. 

The positions thus assumed by Mr. Hamilton 
were undeniably true, as will be apparent from the 
correspondence itself. So plainly do they approve 
themselves to every impartial mind, so clearly do they 
involve Burr in an evident determination to shed 
blood, that he thought it necessary to accompany 
the challenge which ensued with the following ex- 
planatory letter from his principal, in order to give 
some show of decency to his pertinacious and un- 
yielding vengeance. 

" Sir : The letter which I had the honor to re- 
ceive from you, under date of yesterday, states, 
among other things, that, in General Hamilton's 
opinion. Colonel Burr has taken a very indefinite 
ground, in which he evinces nothing short of pre- 
determined hostility, and General Hamilton thinks 
it inadmissible tliat the inquiry should extend to 
30 



850 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Lis confidential as well as other conversations. To 
this Colonel Burr can only reply, that secret whispers 
traducing his fame and impeaching his honor are at 
least equally injurious with slanders puhlicly ut- 
tered ; that General Hamilton had at no time and 
in no place, a right to use any such injurious expres- 
sion ; and that the partial negative he is disposed to 
give, with the reservations he wishes to make, are 
proofs that he has done the injury specified. 

" Colonel Burr's request was, in the first instance, 
proposed in a form the most simple, in order that 
General Hamilton might give to the afiair that 
course to which he might be induced by his temper 
and his knowledge of facts. Colonel Burr trusted 
with confidence that from the frankness of a soldier 
and the candor of a gentleman, he might expect an 
ingenuous declaration. That if, as he had reason to 
believe. General Hamilton had used expressions 
derogatory to his honor, he would have had the 
magnanimity to retract them ; and that if, from his 
language, injurious inferences had been improperly 
drawn, he would have perceived the propriety of 
correcting errors which might thus have been widely 
diffused. With these impressions Colonel Burr was 
greatly surprised at receiving a letter which he con- 
sidered as evasive, and which, in manner, he deemed 
not altogether decorous. In one expectation, how- 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 851 

ever, he was not wholly deceived ; for the close of 
General Hamilton's letter contained an intimation 
that, if Colonel Burr should dislike his refusal to 
acknowledge or deny, he was ready to meet the 
consequences. This Colonel Burr deemed a sort of 
defiance, and would have felt justified in making 
it the basis of an immediate message : but, as the 
communication contained something concerning the 
indefiniteness of the request; as he believed it 
rather the ofispring of false pride than of reflection; 
and as he felt the utmost reluctance to proceed to 
extremities while any other hope remained, his re- 
quest was repeated in terms more explicit. The 
replies and propositions on the part of General 
Hamilton have, in Colonel's Burr's opinion, been 
constantly, in substance, the same, 

" Colonel Burr disavows all motives of predeter- 
mined hostility, a charge by which he thinks insult 
added to injury. He feels as a gentleman should 
when his honor is impeached or assailed ; and, 
without sensations of hostility or wishes of revenge, 
he is determined to vindicate that honor at such 
hazard as the nature of the case demands. 

" The length to which this correspondence has 
extended only tending to prove that the satisfac- 
tory redress, earnestly desired, cannot be attained, 
he deems it useless to offer any proposition except 



352 THE LIFE AMD TIMES 

the single message which I shall now have the 
honor to deliver. With great respect, your ohedient 
servant, &c." 

Upon the receipt of the preceding letter and the 
challenge, Mr. Pendleton informed Mr. Van Ness 
that Mr. Hamilton desired the postponement of the 
interview until after the close of the circuit of the 
Supreme Court then in session at New York. He 
stated that he had some important causes then 
about to be tried, and that if he should withdraw 
his services from his clients at that moment it would 
involve them in great trouble and inconvenience. 
This request was complied with, and the meeting 
postponed until Mr. Pendleton should inform Mr. 
Van Ness that Mr. Hamilton was at leisure to meet 
Mr. Burr. At this interview Mr. Pendleton oifered 
to Mr. Van Ness the following statement of Mr. 
Hamilton in reference to the existing difficulties ; 
but that gentleman refused to receive it, alleging, 
that by the acceptance of the challenge, all further 
communication of any kind was precluded : 

"Whether the observations on this letter are 
designed merely to justify the result which is in- 
dicated in the close of the letter, or may be intended 
to give an opening for rendering any thing explicit 
which may have been deemed vague heretofore, 
can only be judged of by the sequel. At any rate, 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 353 

it appears to me necessary not to be misunder- 
stood. Mr. Pendleton is therefore authorized to 
say, that in the course of the present discussion, 
written or verbal, there has been no intention to 
evade, defy, or insult, but a sincere disposition to 
avoid extremities, if it could be done with pro- 
priety. "With this view General Hamilton has been 
ready to enter into a frank and free explanation 
on any and every object of a specific nature ; but 
not to answer a general and abstract inquiry, em- 
bracing a period too long for any accurate recol- 
lection, and exposing him to unpleasant criticisms 
from, or unpleasant discussions with, any and every 
person who may have understood him in an un- 
favorable sense. This (admitting that he could 
answer in a manner the most satisfactory to Colonel 
Burr) he should deem inadmissible in principle and 
precedent, and humiliating in practice. To this, 
therefore, he can never submit. Frequent allusion 
has been made to slanders said to be in circulation. 
Whether they are openly or in whispers, they have 
a form and shape, and might be specified. 

" If the alternative alluded to in the close of 
the letter is defir.i Lively tendered, it must be ac- 
cepted ; the time, place, and manner to be after- 
ward regulated. I should not think it right, in the 
midst of a circuit court, to withdraw my services 
30* 



354 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

from those who may have confided important inte- 
rests to me, and expose them to the embarrassment 
of seeking other counsel, who may not have time 
to be sufficiently instructed in their causes. I shall 
also want a little time to make some arrangements 
respecting my own affairs." 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 355 



CHAPTER XVII. 



HAMILTON PREPARES FOR THE MEETING — HIS WILL — HIS WRITTEN TESTI- 
MONY AGAINST DUELLING — TIME AND PLACE FOR THE INTERVIEW AP- 
POINTED — MEETING OF THE PARTIES — RULES TO GOVERN THEIR CONDUCT 
— HAMILTON FALLS. 



Thus was the illustrious victim dragged to the 
altar of sacrifice ! The implacable hate of Burr 
demanded the life-blood of this great statesman 
and patriot, who had so long and so often foiled 
his unprincipled schemes of ambition and aggran- 
dizement, and in so doing had so well served his 
country. Yet we cannot but pause here a moment, 
and reflect upon the excessive scrupulousness of that 
delicate sense of honor which prevented Hamilton 
from saying to his foe, that he had satisfactorily 
explained the specific charge in reference to the 
conversation held with Dr. Cooper; that he had dis- 
avowed any strictures upon his private character; 
that all men had a right to express their opinion as 
to the tendency of the political opinions and mea- 
sures of a public man, and especially of a candidate 
for a high and important public oflS.ce ; and that for 
so doing no demand of justice or reason, nor even 



£56 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

the principles of the code of honor — more properly- 
termed the code of infamy, and stamped as such by 
the laws of many civilized States — could require 
him to offer his life in atonement. 

With what feelings of regret must not such a 
man as Hamilton have prepared himself for that 
final meeting ? He knew that Colonel Burr was 
an adept in the use of deadly weapons ; and that 
in all probability, he should fall. In that event he 
had much to lose. The heart of an affectionate 
wife would be rent with agony; his young chil- 
dren would be rendered fatherless; his country- 
would be deprived of his future usefulness ; and one 
of the most brilliant and successful careers ever 
run by a patriotic and honorable aspirant would 
end prematurely in darkness and gloom. 

Nor can we fail to admire the self-possession, the 
constancy, and the firmness of mind with which this 
remarkable man conducted the important and re- 
sponsible professional affairs which demanded his 
attention in the interval between the acceptance of 
the challenge and the hour of meeting. No per- 
turbation or anxiety was apparent to the most 
scrutinizing observer of that intelligent and expres- 
sive countenance. If sorrowful thoughts of those 
whom he would leave behind him ever forced 
themselves on his attention, they were vailed from 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. • 357 

the view of others ; and never, in the whole course 
of his professional life had General Hamilton heen 
more eloquent, more learned, more sagacious, or 
more triumphant in the trial of his causes than 
during the three last weeks of his labors at the bar. 

As the circuit drew toward its close he began to 
prepare his affairs for the contemplated meeting. 
His first act was to execute his will. It was as fol- 
lows : 

"In the name of God, Amen. I, Alexander 
Hamilton, of the city of New York, counselor-at- 
law, do make this my last will and testament, as 
follows : First. I appoint John B. Church, Nicholas 
Fish, and Nathaniel Pendleton, of the city aforesaid, 
Esquires, to be executors and trustees of this my 
last will, and I devise to them, their heirs and as- 
signs as joint tenants and not as tenants in com- 
mon, all my estate real and personal whatsoever, 
and wheresoever, upon trust at their discretion, to 
sell and dispose of the same at such time and times, 
in such manner, and upon such terms as they the 
survivors and survivor shall think fit, and out of 
the proceeds to pay all the debts which I shall owe 
at the time of my decease ; in whole, if the fund be 
sufiicient ; proportionably, if it shall be insufiScient ; 
and the residue, if any there shall be, to pay and 



858 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

to deliver to my excellent and dear wife Elizabeth 
Haniilton. 

" Though if it should please God to spare my 
life, I may look for a considerable surplus out of 
my present property ; yet, if he should speedily call 
me to the eternal world, a forced sale, as is usual, 
may possibly render it insufficient to satisfy my 
debts. I pray God that something may remain for 
the maintenance and education of my dear wife 
and children. But should it, on the contrary hap- 
pen, that there is not enough for the payment of 
my debts, I entreat my dear children, if they or 
any of them should ever be able, to make up the 
deficiency. I without hesitation commit to their 
delicacy a wish that is dictated by my own. Though 
conscious that I have too far sacrificed the interests 
of my family to public avocations, and on this 
account have the less claim to burden my children, 
yet I trust in their magnanimity to appreciate, as 
they ought, this my request. In so unfavorable an 
event of things, the support of their dear mother, 
with the most respectful and tender attention, is a 
duty, all the sacredness of which they will feel. 
Probably her own patrimonial resources will pre- 
serve her from indigence. But in all situations 
they are charged to bear in mind that she has been 
to them the most devoted and best of mothers. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 359 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed 
my hand, the 9th day of July, 1804." 

Having performed this last duty to his family, 
General Hamilton next acquitted himself of that 
which he owed to his country and to the world, by 
placing on record his protest against the prevalence 
and power of the barbarous code to which he him- 
self was about to fall a victim. Among the papers 
which he left behind him was the following :* 

" On my expected interview with Colonel Burr, 
I think it proper to make some remarks explana- 
tory of my conduct, motives, and views. I was 
certainly desirous of avoiding this interview for the 
most cogent reasons. 

"1. My religious and moral principles are strong- 
ly opposed to the practice of duelling, and it would 
ever give me pain to be obliged to shed the blood 
of a fellow-creature in a private combat forbidden 
by the laws. 

" 2. My wife and children are extremely dear to 
me, and my life is of the utmost importance to 
them in various views. 

* Mr. Hamilton also wrote a letter for Mrs. Hamilton, to be de- 
livered in case he fell. In it he assured her that he had taken all 
possible means to avoid the duel, except in acting in such a manner 
as would forfeit her esteem ; that he had determined not to fire at 
Burr, and that he expected to fall. He asked her forgiveness for 
inflicting so much pain, and commended her and her children to 
God. 



860 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

" 3. I feel a sense of obligation toward my cre- 
ditors; who, in case of accident to me, by the 
forced sale of my property, may be in some degree 
sufferers. I did not tliink myself at liberty, as a 
man of probity, likely to expose them to this 
hazard. 

"4. I am conscious of no ill-ioill to Colonel Burr 
distinct from political opposition, which, as I trust, 
has proceeded from pure and upright motives. 

"Lastly, I shall hazard much, and can possibly 
gain nothing by the issue of the interview. 

" But it was, as I conceive, impossible for me to 
avoid it. There were intrinsic difficulties in the 
thing, and artificial embarrassments from the man- 
ner of proceeding on the part of Colonel Burr. 

" Intrinsic, because it is not to be denied that my 
animadversions on the political principles, charac- 
ter, and views of Colonel Burr have been extremely 
severe ; and, on different occasions, I, in common 
with many others, have made very unfavorable cri- 
ticisms on particular instances of the private con- 
duct of this gentleman. 

" In proportion as these impressions were enter- 
tained with sincerity, and uttered with motives and 
for purposes which might appear to me commend- 
able, would be the difficulty (until they could be 
removed by evidence of their being erroneous) of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 3G1 

explanation or apology. The disavowal requi7-ed of 
me hy Colonel Burr, in a general and definite form, 
was out of my power, if it had really been proper for 
me to submit to be so questioned ; but I was sin- 
cerely of the opinion that this could not be ; and 
in this opinion I was confirmed by that of a very 
moderate and judicious friend whom I consulted. 
Besides that, Colonel Burr appeared to me to as- 
sume, in the first instance, a tone unnecessarily pe- 
remptory and menacing; and, in the second, posi- 
tively offensive. Yet I wished, as far as might be 
practicable, to leave a door open for accommoda- 
tion. This, I think, will be inferred from the writ- 
ten communications made by me and by my direc- 
tion, and would be confirmed by the conversations 
between Mr. Van Ness and myself, which arose out 
of the subject. 

" I am not sure whether, under all the circum- 
stances, I did not go further in the attempt to ac- 
commodate than a punctilious delicacy will justify. 
If so, I hope the motives I have stated will excuse 
me. 

" It is not my design, by what I have said, to afiix 
any odium on the character of Colonel Burr in this 
case. He doubtless has heard of animadversions of 
mine which hore very hard upon him ; and it is pro- 
bable that, as usual, they were accompanied witli 
31 



362 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

some falsehoods. He may have supposed himself 
under a necessity of acting as he has done. I hope 
the grounds of his proceeding have been such as 
ought to satisfy his own conscience. 

"I trust, at the same time, that the world will do 
me the justice to believe that I have not censured 
him on light groimds nor from unworthy induce- 
ments. I certainly/ have had strong reasons for what 
I have said, though it is possible that in some particu- 
lars I have been influenced by misconstruction or mis- 
information. It is also my ardent ivish that I may 
have been more mistaken than I think I have been ; 
and that he, by his future conduct, may show him- 
self worthy of all confidence and esteem, and prove 
an ornament and blessing to the country. 

" As well, because it is possible that I may have 
injured Colonel Burr, however convinced myself 
that my opinions and declarations have been well 
founded, as from my general principles and temper 
in relation to similar affairs, I have resolved, if our 
interview is conducted in the usual manner, and it 
pleases God to give me the opportunity, to reserve 
and throw away my first fire ; and I have thoughts 
even of reserving my second, and thus giving a 
double opportunity to Colonel Burr to pause and 
repent. 

"It is not my intention, however, to enter into 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 363 

any explanation on the ground. Apology, from 
principle I hope rather than pride, is out of the 
question. 

" To those who, with me, abhorring the practic(? 
of duelling, may think that I ought on no account 
to have added to the number of bad examples, I an- 
swer, that my relative situation, as well in public as 
in private, enforcing all the considerations which 
constitute what men of the world denominate honor, 
imposed on me, as I thought, a peculiar necessity 
not to decline the call. The ability to be in future 
useful, whether in resisting mischief or effecting 
good in those crises of our public affairs which 
seem likely to happen, would probably be insepara- 
ble from a conformity with public prejudice in this 
particular." 

On Friday, July 6th, the circuit having termi- 
nated, Mr. Pendleton informed Mr. Van Ness that 
Mr. Hamilton would be prepared to meet Mr. Burr 
at any time after the succeeding Sunday. On the 
following Monday the particulars of the duel were 
arranged. On Wednesday the 11th of July, 1804, 
the parties met at seven o'clock in the morning at 
"Weahawken, three miles above Hoboken, on the 
Jersey shore, opposite to New York. 

Eager for the conflict and the slaughter, Colonel 
Burr arrived first upon the ground. When his an- 



364 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

tagouist appeared they formally exchanged saluta- 
tions. The seconds then proceeded to make the 
necessary arrangements. They measured the dis- 
tance, which was ten paces. They cast lots for the 
choice of position and for the right to give the word 
to fire. Both of these fell to the second of General 
Hamilton. The pistols were then loaded in each 
other's presence. The parties then took their re- 
spective stations. Mr. Pendleton explained the 
rules which were to govern the combatants in 
firing. These were as follows: The parties being 
placed at their positions, the second who gives the 
word shall ask them whether they are ready. Being 
answered affirmatively, he shall say : Present ! After 
this order, the parties shall present and fire when 
tJiey please. If one fires before the other, the oppo- 
site second shall say, one, two, three, fire; and he 
shall then fire or lose his shot. Mr. Pendleton hav- 
ing inquired whether the parties were ready, and 
being answered affirmatively, gave the word present. 
Mr. Burr fired instantly. Mr. Pendleton always main- 
tained that Mr. Hamilton did not fire first, and that 
he did not fire at all, at his opponent. Mr. Yan 
Ness always insisted that Mr. Hamilton did fire 
first, and at his antagonist. The declaration of Mr. 
Hamilton himself, as contained in the document 
which he prepared before the conflict, would clearly 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 365 

indicate that it was not his intention to fire at Mr. 
Burr ; and a declaration of purpose from a man of 
such unimpeachable veracity and integrity as Mr. 
Hamilton is as conclusive as any extrinsic and com- 
petent testimony. What ever the real fact may have 
been, Mr. Burr was uninjured ; and Mr. Hamilton 
instantly fell. It is said that at the first moment, 
Burr seeing Hamilton fall advanced toward him a 
few steps rapidly, with a manner and gesture which 
seemed indicative of regret. But this incident, if it 
actually occurred, was doubtless a hypocritical part 
of the drama which, on this remarkable occasion, he 
had determined to play. No further communication 
took place between the principals, and Colonel Burr 
without speaking a word turned away and left the 
field. He returned immediately to New York, in 
the barge which had conveyed him to the scene of 
conflict. And thus, 

" A falcon towering in his pride of place, 
Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd." 

31* 



866 THE LIFE AND TIMES 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE NATURE OF HAMIT.TON'S WOUND — HE IS REMOVED TO THE HOUSE OF 
MR. BAYARD — HIS INTERVIEW WITH DR. MASON — HIS INTERVIEW WITH 
BISHOP MOORE — HE RECEIVES THE LORD'S SCTPPER — HIS RELIGIOUS 

OPINIONS HIS LAST INTERVIEW WITH HIS FAMILY — HIS DEATH HIS 

FUNERAL — ORATION OF GOUVERNEUR MORRIS — UNIVERSAL SORROW AT 
HIS DEATH — REMARKS OF BURR ON HAMILTON'S DEATH. 



The instant General Hamilton was struck, he 
raised himself involuntarily on his toes, turned a 
little to the left, — at which moment Mr. Pendleton 
maintained his pistol w^ent off, — and fell heavily on 
his face. The ball had struck the second or third 
false rib, and fractured it about the middle. It then 
passed through the liver and the diaphragm, and as 
far as was subsequently ascertained, lodged in the 
first or second lumbar vertebra. The vertebra in 
which it was lodged, was considerably splintered, 
so that the spiculce were perceptible to the touch of 
the finsrer. The moment Hamilton fell his attend- 
ant surgeon, Dr. Hosack, ran to his assistance. He 
found him supported in the arms of Mr. Pendleton. 
Perceiving the physician, Hamilton said feebly : 
" This is a mortal wound, doctor." He then sank 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 367 

away and appeared to be lifeless. His pulses were 
not perceptible ; bis respiration was entirely sus- 
pended; and tbe motion of his beart bad ceased. 
He was then supposed to be already dead. 

As soon as Hamilton was conveyed to the barge, 
and felt the cool breezes from the river, he began . 
to revive. Some imperfect efforts to breathe were 
for the first time perceptible. In a few minutes 
he heaved a labored sigh, and became sensible to 
the efifects of hartshorne. His eyes opened slightly, 
and wandered to and fro. At length he said: " My 
vision is indistinct." His pulse then became per- 
ceptible, his respiration was more regular, and his 
sight returned. In a few minutes turning to the 
case of pistols which was lying in the boat, he said : 
" Pendleton knows that I did not intend to fire at 
him." Mr. Pendleton had already informed Dr. 
Hosack to that efiect. By this time his lower ex- 
tremities had lost all feeling, and Hamilton plainly 
expressed the opinion that he entertained no hopes 
that he should long survive. The posture of his 
limbs was changed, but to no purpose. On ap- 
proaching the shore he said : " Let Mrs. Hamilton 
be immediately sent for — let the event be gradu- 
ally broken to her; but give her hopes." On 
arriving at the shore a cot was instantly prepared, 
upon which he was conveyed from the wharf to Mr. 



368 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Bayard's residence. Along the route large crowds 
of weeping and lamenting citizens assembled 
around the dying statesman ; he alone appeared 
tranquil and composed. Even when be saw the 
anguish of his family, his equanimity was not dis- 
turbed. 

Having reached the residence of his friend he 
became more languid. Mixed wine and water were 
given him, which restored him somewhat. He then 
complained of a pain in his back. Large doses of 
laudanum were subsequently administered ; yet the 
agony which he endured during the whole of that 
day was most intense. From the first his physi- 
cians entertained no hopes of his recovery. The 
surgeons who were on board the French frigates, 
then riding in the harbor, were invited to render 
their assistance. After receiving a full description 
of the wound, and examining the person of the pa- 
tient, they decided that the case was hopeless. 

During this day. General Hamilton, perceiving 
that his last hour was approaching, desired to re- 
ceive the succors of religion. He sent for his 
friend, the celebrated Dr. John M. Mason, a Pres- 
byterian clergyman, who immediately answered tlie 
call and hurried to Hamilton's bedside. As soon 
as Dr. Mason entered Mr. Hamilton said, that he 
desired to have the sacrament administered to him. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 369 

Dr. Mason replied, that it gave him unutterable 
pain to receive from him any request with which he 
could not possibly comply; that the discipline and 
doctrines of his church forbade him to administer 
the Lord's Supper privately to any person under 
any circumstances. But he informed Mr. Hamilton 
that the sacrament was " an exhibition and pledge 
of the mercies which the Son of God had pur- 
chased ; that the absence of the sign does not ex- 
clude from the mercies signified, which were acces- 
sible to him by faith in their gracious author." 
Hamilton answered : "I am aware of that ; it is only 
as a sign that I wanted it." Dr. Mason continued 
that he "had nothing to address to him in his af- 
fliction but that same Gospel of the grace of God, 
which it was his office to preach to the most ob- 
scure and illiterate ; that in the sight of God all 
men were on a level, as all have sinned and come 
short of his glory ; and that they must apply to him 
for pardon and life, as sinners whose only refuge is 
in his grace, reigning by righteousness through the 
Lord Jesus Christ." Hamilton replied: "I per- 
ceive it to be so; I am a sinner; I look to his 
mercy." Dr. Mason then adverted to " the infinite 
merit of the Redeemer as the propitiation for sin, 
the sole ground of our acceptance with God, the 
8ole channel of his favor to us;" and cited the fol- 



370 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

lowing passages of Scripture: "There is no other 
name given under heaven among men, whereby we 
must be saved but the name of Jesus. lie is able 
to save to the uttermost them who come unto God 
by him, seeing he ever livcth to make intercession 
for them. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
from all sin." 

The subject of the duel was then introduced, and 
Dr. Mason said to him, that it was not necessary 
that he should be reminded of the moral aspects 
of that matter; that the blood of Christ was as 
effectual to wash away the guilt of that trangres- 
sion as any other; and that there alone he must 
seek for deliverance from guilt, for peace of con- 
science, and for hope of future salvation. Mr. Ha- 
milton assented with strong emotion to these state- 
ments, and expressed his utter abhorrence of the 
whole transaction. He said: " It was always against 
m}^ principles. I used every expedient to avoid the 
interview ; but I have found, for some time past, 
that my life must be exposed to that man. I went 
to the field determined not to take his life." He 
expressed the anguish of his mind in recollecting 
what had passed, and his hope of forgiveness with 
his God. 

Dr. Mason then recurred " to the topic of the 
divine compassion ; the freedom of pardon in Christ 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 371 

to perishing sinners." Said he: "That grace, my 
dear General, which brings salvation is rich." Ha- 
milton replied: "It is rich grace." "On that 
grace," continued Dr. Mason, "a sinner has the 
highest encouragement to repose his confidence, 
because it is tendered to him upon the surest foun- 
dation, the Scripture testifying that we have re- 
demption through the blood of Christ, and the for 
giveness of sins according to the richness of his 
grace." At that expression General Hamilton re- 
leased the hand of the clergyman which till then 
lie had held, and clasping his own together, looking 
toward heaven said : " I have a tender reliance on 
the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of 
the Lord Jesus Christ." He then closed his eyes, 
seemingly engaged in prayer. As soon as he 
opened them again Dr. Mason continued : " The 
simple truths of the Gospel, which require no ab- 
struse investigation, but faith in the veracity of 
God who cannot lie, are best suited to your present 
condition, and they are full of consolation." "I 
feel them to be so," said he. He then requested 
Dr. Mason to pray for him ; and while the clergy- 
man knelt in prayer the voice of the dying man 
was distinctly heard accompanying him. When he 
concluded, Hamilton said: "Amen, God grant it!" 
As Dr. Mason was taking his leave he remarked 



372 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

to Mr. Hamilton that there was one request which he 
had to make of him, and being asked what it was, 
replied that whatever might be the issue of his 
aifliction, he would give his testimony against the 
practice of duelling. Said he in reply: "I will ; I 
have done it. If that be the issue," (meaning his 
death) "you will find it in writing. If it please 
God that I recover, I shall do it in a manner which 
will effectually put me out of its reach in future." 
When Dr. Mason recurred to the importance of 
renouncing every other trust for the eternal world, 
except the mercy of God in Christ, with a particu- 
lar reference to the duel, Mr. Hamilton was much 
affected, and said : " Let us not pursue that subject 
any further; it agitates me." The clergyman then 
took his leave ; and as he left the apartment he heard 
the dying statesman exclaim: " God be merciful to 
me a sinner !" Dr. Mason called again the next morn- 
ing, but Mr. Hamilton was then beyond the power 
of conversation. He was surrounded by his weep- 
ing family and friends. He still retained the same 
composure and serenity; and his great intellect 
was unclouded to the last. 

It was still however the wish of Mr. Hamilton, 
dictated by his own religious convictions, to receive 
the communion of the Lord's Supper. Accord- 
ingly after the departure of Dr. Mason, he sent for 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 373 

Bishop Moore, of the Episcopal church, accompa- 
nied with the request that he would perform that 
office. On the first interview the mind of the 
bishop was not clear upon the propriety of doing so 
to one who had been a party to a duel, and who 
was not a communicant of the church. Upon fur- 
ther deliberation, however, he returned to the 
chamber of Mr. Hamilton to converse with him in 
reference to his religious views. "When he entered, 
Mr. Hamilton said : " My dear sir, you perceive my 
unfortunate situation, and no doubt have been 
made acquainted with the circumstances which led 
to it. It is my desire to receive the Communion 
at your hands. I hope you will not conceive that 
there is any impropriety in my request. It has 
been for some time past the wish of my heart, and 
it was my intention to take an early opportunity of 
uniting myself to the church by the reception of 
that holy ordinance." Bishop Moore replied that 
Mr. Hamilton must be sensible of the delicate situ- 
ation in which he was placed; that however desir- 
ous he might be to afford consolation to a fellow 
mortal in distress, it was his duty as a minister of 
the Gospel to hold up the law of God as paramount 
to all other law ; and that therefore under the in- 
fluence of such sentiments he must unequivocally 
condemn the practice which had brought him to 
32 



374 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

Lis present unhappy condition. Mr, Hamilton ac- 
knowledged the propriety of these sentiments, and 
declared that he regarded his interview with Mr. Burr 
with sorrow and contrition. Bishop Moore then 
asked him : " Should it please God to restore you 
to health, will you never be again engaged in a 
similar transaction? And will you employ all your 
influence in society to discountenance this barba- 
rous custom?" His answer was: "That, sir, is my 
deliberate intention." 

The conversation then turned upon the subject 
of the Communion. The bishop dwelt upon the 
requisite qualifications of those who wished to be- 
come partakers of that holy ordinance. He pro- 
pounded the following questions to Mr. Hamilton : 
" Do you sincerely repent of your past sins ? Have 
you a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, 
with a thankful remembrance of the death of 
Christ ? And are you disposed to live in love and 
charity with all men ?" Mr. Hamilton lifted up 
his hands and said : "With the utmost sincerity of 
heart I can answer those questions in the affirma- 
tive. I have no ill-will against Colonel Burr. I 
met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm. 
I forgive all that happened." The bishop then 
continued that the terrors of the law were intended 
only for those who were obdurate and impenitent ; 



OP ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 375 

that the blessings of the Gospel were promised to the 
contrite and penitent ; and that as he professed him- 
self to be of the latter class, the Communion would 
be administered to him. Mr. Hamilton received 
this sacrament with the utmost devoutness and so- 
lemnity, and expressed "the strongest confidence 
in the mercy of God, through the intercession of 
the Redeemer." After this duty had been per- 
formed one only yet remained ; but it was the most 
painful of all. No incident in the wide and 
diversified range of human sufifering and misfor- 
tune exceeds in intensity of sadness and wo, the 
scene which occurred in the chamber of that dying 
and murdered statesman, when he bade his last 
farewell to his afilicted family. At the sight of his 
children as they surrounded his bed, seven in num- 
ber, his utterance forsook him. He opened his 
eyes, gave them all one long last look of aflfection, 
and then closed them again until they were re- 
moved. The grief of Mrs. Hamilton at this crisis 
became frantic. It was apprehended that her reason 
would sink under its weight. Mr. Hamilton alone 
could calm her spirit. He addressed her frequently 
in a firm yet affectionate and impressive manner, 
with these remarkable words : " Kemember, my 
Eliza, you are a Christian." 
Having embraced his wife for the last time, he 



376 THE LIFE a::d times 

calmly composed himself to die ; and he expired 
the day after the fatal meeting, at two o'clock in 
the afternoon. Thus passed away from the earth 
one of the most gifted, powerful, and illustrious 
spirits which has ever figured upon the great and 
wondrous stage of human affairs.* The grief 
which pervaded the whole nation at this lanaentable 
event was profound and universal. It exceeded 
even that which ensued upon the death of Wash- 
ington ; because the departure from life of that 
great patriot was neither violent nor premature. 
He had completed his glorious career ; and expired 
when full of years and honors. The death of 
Hamilton, however, was regarded universally as a 
murder, and as a sacrifice made to the implacable 
hate of his antagonist, who had clearly evinced a 
determination to accept of no explanation or apo- 
logy, except such as would have degraded and in- 
jured his victim in the eyes of the world. f 



* See Neio York Evening Post, July 14, 1804. 

•}■ The very day after Hamilton's death, his assassin very coolly 
wrote the following letter to his son-in-law, Joseph Alston, while 
he was surrounded by a whole community convulsed with paroxysms 
of gi-ief : 

New York, July 13, 1804. 

"General Hamilton died yesterday. The malignant federalists or 
tories, and the imbittered Clintonians, unite in endeavoring to excite 
public sympathy in his favor and indignation against his antagonist. 
Thousands of absurd falsehoods are circulated with industry. The 



OF ALEXANDEK HAMILTON. 377 

Mr. Hamilton expired on Thursday, and his 
funeral took place on the succeeding Saturday. 
The scene was one of the utmost solemnity and im- 
pressiveness. By common consent all business was 
suspended. Sorrow seemed to be stamped on every 
countenance ; and all the inhabitants of the city 
crowded to pay the last testimonial of respect and 
affection to the illustrious dead. During the inter- 
val between his death and funeral, many societies 
and corporations in New York held meetings and 
passed resolutions of condolence. The chief mer- 
chants met at the Tontine Coffee House. The flags 
of all the shipping were hoisted at half-mast. The 
Common Council assembled, passed resolutions of 
regret, and ordered that all the bells of the corpora- 
tion and of the churches in the city should be 
muffled and tolled at intervals during the entire day 
of the buriral. The members of the Bar met, and 
passed resolves such as are rarely equaled in depth 
of sincerity and profound respect, by those which 
are usually elicited from the members of that body, 
even on the decease of their most illustrious breth- 

most illiberal means are practiced in order to produce excitement, 
and for the moment with eflFect. 

" I propose leaving town for a few days, and meditate also a jour- 
ney for some weeks, but whither is not resolved. Perhaps to States- 
burgh. You will hear from me again in about eight days. 

A. BUER," 

32* 



878 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

ren. The military forces of the city were ordered 
to parade on the occasion of the funeral, and be 
prepared to confer the highest military honors over 
the grave. The students of law, the students of 
Columbia College, the members of the General 
Society of Mechanics and Traders of "New York, 
the members of the St. Andrew's Society, all assem- 
bled, recorded their grief, and determined to attend 
the funeral. The Brothers of the Ancient Society of 
Tammany resolved to meet by tribes in the Great 
Wigwam, and follow under the orders of their 
Grand Sachem, the funeral cortege of their fallen 
hero to the tomb. 

"Wlien the hour appointed for the funeral arrived, 
a more imposing scene had never been witnessed on 
this continent, than that which was then presented. 
The Society of the Cincinnati very properly took 
charge of the last obsequies of their departed bro- 
ther. Twenty-three different orders, societies, and 
corporations joined the funeral procession, besides 
the military array, composed of both infantry and 
artillery. The great standard of the order of the 
Cincinnati, which Washington himself had conse- 
crated, shrouded in crape, was carried in the proces- 
sion in the rear of the corpse. Solemn martial 
music, hallowed in the memories of not a few then 
present by many revolutionary scenes, reverberated 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 379 

through the silent air, and drew tears from myriads 
of eyes. At twelve o'clock the procession moved. 
The pall was supported by eight of the most dis- 
tinguished citizens of the State of 'New York, the 
personal friends of the deceased. On the top of the 
coffin were placed the general's hat and sword. His 
old charger, which had carried him over more than 
one field of blood, was dressed in mourning and led 
behind the bier. "When the immense procession 
arrived at Trinity Church on Broadway, Governeur 
Morris, surrounded by the four sons of General 
Hamilton, delivered an oration characterized by 
solemn and appropriate eloquence, from a stage 
erected in front of the church. The multitude were 
bathed in tears, while the impressive voice of the 
orator gave utterance to thoughts which found a 
ready echo in every heart. Speaking of the illus- 
trious dead, he said : "You have long witnessed his 
professional conduct and felt his unrivaled elo- 
quence. You know how well he performed the 
duties of a citizen. You know that he never courted 
your favors by adulation or the sacrifice of his own 
judgment. You have seen him contending against 
you, saving your dearest interests as it were in 
spite of yourselves. And now you feel and enjoy 
the benefits resulting from the firm energy of his 
conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of 



380 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

my departed friend. / charge you to protect Ids fame. 
It is all he has left — all that these poor orphan chil- 
dren will inherit from their father. But, my coun- 
trymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to you 
also. Let it be the test by which to examine those 
who solicit your favor. Disregarding professions 
view their conduct, and on a doubtful occasion ask, 
Would Hamilton have done this thing ? 

"You all know how he perished. On this last 
scene I cannot, I must not dwell. I might ex- 
cite emotions too strong for your better judg- 
ment. Suffer not your indignation to lead to any 
act which might again offend the insulted majesty 
of the law. On his part, as from his lips, though 
with my voice, — for his voice you w^ill hear no 
more, — let me entreat you to respect yourselves." 

After the conclusion of the address of Mr. Morris, 
the coi-pse was committed to its last resting place, 
and the impressive service of the Episcopal Church 
was read by Bishop Moore. The solemnities were 
then terminated by the discharge of three volleys of 
musketry over the grave. 

Throughout the whole nation meetings were 
held, and resolutions of condolence and sympathy 
at the national loss were passed. Orations were 
delivered in which, for once, the loftiest eloquence 
found a fitting theme for its sublimest flights. At 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 381 

Boston and Philadelphia the demonstrations of re- 
gret were universal and impressive. In the former 
city, Harrison G. Otis was selected to give form and 
utterance to the universal sorrow. Said he elo- 
quently : " Must we realize that Hamilton is no 
more ! Must the sod not yet cemented on the tomb 
of Washington, and still moist with our tears, be so 
soon disturbed to admit the beloved companion of 
Washington, the partner of his dangers, the object 
of his confidence, the disciple who leaned upon his 
bosom ! Insatiable Death ! Will not the heroes 
and statesmen whom mad ambition has sent from 
the crimsoned fields of Europe, suflice to people 
thy dreary dominions ! Thy dismal avenues have 
been thronged with princely martyrs and illustri- 
ous victims. Crowns and sceptres, the spoils of 
royalty, are among thy recent trophies, and the 
blood of innocence and valor has flowed in torrents 
at thy inexorable command. Such have been thy 
ravages in the old world. And in our infant coun- 
try, how small was the remnant of our revolutionary 
heroes ! Could not our Warren, our Montgomery, 
our Mercer, our Greene, and our Washington ap- 
pease thy vengeance !" And with appropriate and 
truthful words the orator concludes : — 

"The universal sorrow manifested in every part 
of the Union, upon the melancholy exit of this 



882 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

great man, is an unequivocal testimonial of the 
public opinion of bis worth. The place of his resi- 
dence is overspread with a gloom which bespeaks 
the presence of a public calamity; and the preju- 
dices of party are absorbed in the ovei'flowing tide 
of national grief."* 

" So stream the sorrows that emoalm the brave ; 
The tears which virtue sheds on glory's grave." 

• See " Eulogy on General Alexander Hamilton, pronounced at 
the request of the citizens of Boston, July 26th, 1804, by the Hon. 
Harrison Q. Otis. New York, 1804." 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 383 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE EFFECTS OF HAMILTON'S DEATH — HIS PECULIAR INTELLECTUAL QUA- 
LITIES — HIS LOGICAL POWERS — HIS FERTILE IMAGINATION — HIS PRO- 
FOUND LEARNING — HIS UNTIRING INDUSTRY — HIS ABILITIES AS A WRITER 
— HIS ELOQUENCE AS A SPEAKER — HIS MORAL QUALITIES — HIS INTE- 
GRITY — HIS SINCERITY — HIS FORTITUDE AS A SOLDIER — HIS UNE- 
QUALED ABILITIES AS A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT — HIS FAILINGS — 
HIS DUEL WITH BURR — HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE — SUBSEQUENT 
HISTORY OF MRS. HAMILTON — HER INTERVIEW WITH AARON BURR — HEB 
DEATH — FATE OP BURR. 

The premature death of Hamilton was a na- 
tional calamity. It is not diificult to predict to 
what exalted posts of honor he would have been 
promoted, had he lived. Possessing, as he did, the 
full confidence of the nation, having filled import- 
ant ofiices of trust with the purest integrity and 
the highest praise ; being devoted to the interests 
of his country ; his faculties being matured by ex- 
perience, and his knowledge of the wants of the 
nation enlarged by study and observation ; it is not 
improbable that a very few years would have seen 
him occupying the presidential chair. And if, as 
was probable, that event occurred during the exist- 
ence of the war of 1812, Mr. Hamilton would, by 
virtue of his ofiice, have been commander-in-chief 
of the American armies ; and it is but a reasonable 



384 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

inference to suppose tliat his military genius would 
have shone forth in that great crisis more resplen- 
dent than ever. In a word, the completed and fully 
consummated career of Alexander Hamilton would 
without much doubt have been the brightest, loftiest, 
and noblest presented in the whole range of Ame- 
rican history. 

All this fair picture was spoiled by the malignity 
of his bitterest foe, Aaron Burr. A nation's tears 
were shed over the grave of his illustrious victim, 
and the undying curses of all virtuous men, in all 
coming time, were secured to the perpetrator of 
his murder. Before concluding this volume we will 
make a few observations upon the history, character, 
genius, and fame of Hamilton, such as will enable 
us better to estimate the position which he deserves 
to hold on the page of American history. 

The chief qualities of the mind of Alexander 
Hamilton were a clear and vigorous reasoning fa- 
culty, and a chaste and prolific imagination. He 
possessed a rare and beautiful proportion of these 
cardinal mental qualities. In the discussion of 
any subject he seized hold of the main points with 
the vigor of an intellectual giant, and handled them 
skillfully, gracefull}^, and with ease. No matter 
how abstruse the details of a discussion or an in- 
quiry might be to other men, his well-trained and 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 385 

powerful intellect followed out and unraveled all its 
intricacies, and showed them up clearly to view. 
No matter how profound and deep a theme might 
be, Hamilton easily and perseveringly sounded its 
lowest and obscurest depths, and revealed them 
plainly to the observation of men. He was always 
thorough and exhaustive in his researches, as his 
reports as Secretary of the Treasury will clearly 
evince. He dived to the bottom of every subject. 
Having laid down his premises plainly and fairly, 
he argues from those premises with the most logi- 
cal clearness, accuracy, and force. His reasoning 
forms a chain of iron which a giant cannot break. 
But that iron chain, though ponderous and power- 
ful, was a gilded one. It was burnished with all the 
beauty and polish of a rich imagination. Few 
writers in our language, not even those who have 
cultivated elegance and euphony of style as their 
sole accomplishment, and whose entire attention has 
been devoted to the labor limae, excelled him in 
this particular. His essays, pamphlets, and reports 
are masterpieces ; each perfect, symmetrical and 
finished in itself. 

This merit becomes the more extraordinarj- w^hen 

we remember the vast quantity of his writings. He 

did not confine his powejs to the elaboration of a 

few great productions, and exhaust upon tliem iill 

33 



386 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

his mental resources. His intellect was too prolific 
and too rich for any such aim. The number and 
amount of Hamilton's writings are prodigious. 
They occupy seven large octavo volumes, exclusive 
of the Federalist. They are more numerous than 
the productions of Burke, Bolingbroke, Brougham, 
Webster, or Quincy Adams ; nor are the writings 
of any modern or ancient statesman, except per- 
haps Cicero alone, equal in amount to those of Ha- 
milton. IsTor should it be forgotten, in our estima- 
tion of his intellectual resources, that he was not a 
recluse whose life was passed in the quietude and 
retirement of his study. The largest portion of his 
time was spent in the hurry and bustle of public 
business, in the official bureau, in the courts of 
justice, in giving professional counsel, in the po- 
pular and deliberative assembly. 

In this last sphere of intellectual activity Hamil- 
ton shone with unsurpassed brilliancy; for as an 
orator he had no superior. His manner of delivery 
was easy, graceful, and impressive. His utterance 
was fluent, unembarrassed, and self-possessed. His 
eloquence was Ciceronian rather than Demosthe- 
nian; and while, when occasion served, he could 
thunder with a power and effectiveness not unwor- 
thy of the ancient and implacal)lc foe of Philip of 
Macedon, his more prevalent style was that of 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 387 

saavity, melody, and grace. He spoke as if the 
Attic Bee dwelt forever on his lips. In a delibera- 
tive assembly, in the courts of justice, or in the 
halls of the academy, the eloquence of Hamilton 
was a model of perfection. He was the pride and 
delight of all who could appreciate the beauties of 
a polished, consummate, and masterly eloquence. 
Even his great rival and enemy, Aaron Burr, was 
compelled to concede Hamilton's supremacy in this 
respect. 

His literary and scientific attainments were by no 
means limited. His knowledge was extensive and 
accurate. Possessing a retentive memory, clear 
discrimination, and indomitable industiy, he soon 
mastered the details of every branch of learning to 
which his attention was directed, and made them 
his own. In his youth he spent only three years 
in Columbia College; yet during that period he 
rendered himself familiar with classical lamruao-es 
and learning, with general history, with the mathe- 
matics and exact sciences. "We have already seen 
how, in four short months, he acquired a competent 
knowledge of the dry and abstruse learning, both of 
the common and the statute law, and prepared him- 
self for admission to the bar. His subsequent and 
rapid rise to the first eminence in that profession 
among rivals and associates of the highest abilities, 



388 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

as soon as lie devoted himself actively to bis profes- 
sional career, clearly evince how superior his legal 
gifts and attainments were. Had he lived, it is not 
improbable that he would have become one of the 
most celebrated and profound jurists of the land. 
His associates at the bar, usually so jealous of su- 
perior genius and of unusual success, regarded him 
with pride, and rarely with envy. He possessed 
the fullest confidence of the courts. In the trial 
of causes, and in the discussion of legal principles, 
it was truly said of him, by one eminently compe- 
tent to judge, that "without ever stopping or even 
hesitating, by a rapid and manly march he led the 
listening judge and the fascinated juror, step by 
step, through a delightsome region, brightening as 
he advanced, till his argument rose to demonstra- 
tion, and eloquence was rendered useless by con- 
viction."* 

The moral qualities of Hamilton were such as 
every wise and good man must esteem. His inte- 
grity and honesty were unimpeachable. This trait 
in his character first won him the confidence of 
"Washington, and rendered him his bosom friend 

• See " Discourse delivered in the North Dutch Church, in the 
city of Albany, occasioned by the ever to be lamented death of Ge- 
neral Alexander Hamilton, on 29th July, 1804, by Eliphalet Nott, 
A. M., Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in said city. New York, 
1804." 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 389 

while yet almost a youth. During the progress of 
the revolutionary war, he intrusted Hamilton with 
the most important secret missions, in preference 
to all his other officers and suhordinates. After the 
elevation of Washington to the presidency, he con- 
ferred on Hamilton the most important and respon- 
sible post in his Cabinet ; for at that critical period 
the finances of the country were the most difficult 
matter of adjustment which demanded the atten- 
tion of government. Hamilton was appointed Se- 
cretary of the Treasury with the approval of the 
greatest financier who has ever adorned American 
history.* The manner in which he performed his 
difficult duties has ever been the subject of universal 
praise. Twice in the House of Representatives did 
his personal and political opponent, Mr. Giles, move 
an inquiry into the details of his official acts. 
Twice was the most searching and malignant inves- 
tigation entered into in reference to the Treasury 
department. And twice were the committees, with 
Giles himself at their head, compelled to report 
that, after the most thorough examination, not the 
smallest inaccuracy, not the slightest negligence, 
not the least dishonesty, could be detected in the 

* Washington, in the first instance, selected Robert Morris as Se- 
cretary of the Treasury. That gentleman declined, and recom- 
mended Mr. Hamilton, knowing that he would be acceptable to t!ie 
Pi'esident. — See "Sullivan's JFamilinr Letters," Boston, 1884, p. -iU. 



390 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

.administratiou of the Treasury office under Mr. 
Hamilton. .^ 

In truth, his abilities in this department saved 
this country from ruin. Exhausted by the revolu- 
tionary struggle, it had become a financial desert. 
The barren rock of the national finances towered 
in loneliness and desolation over the waste. Hamil- 
ton, like Moses of old, smote that rock with the 
potent rod of a magician, and instantly golden 
streams issued forth to fertilize, adorn, and enrich 
the desert. The public credit of the nation had 
long been sick. At length it had yielded to the 
power of a fatal disease and expired. It became a 
lifeless corpse, and was rapidly becoming putrid 
and oif'ensive. Hamilton touched that corpse with 
the skill and power of a worker of miracles, 
and instantly it sprang into life again. Nor was it 
a feeble and languishing life, but the life of a vigor- 
ous, graceful, and resistless giant, whose powers 
filled the world with respect and admiration. 

As a soldier Hamilton was eminently brave, chi- 
valrous, and prudent. ISTo charge of cowardice or 
pusillanimity was ever made against him. His 
whole conduct during the war, his heroism at York- 
town, where he triumphantly led the forlorn hope ; 
and his unnecessary meeting of Burr on " the field 
of honor," all evince that he was brave even to a 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 391 

fault. And yet, as a conqueror, he was humane 
and benevolent. He spared the effusion of human 
blood in every instance in which it was possible. 
"When victory favored his arms, he did not sully his 
glory by cruelty or malice, or wantonly riot in hu- 
man suffering. In his social and domestic qualities 
Hamilton was kindly, generous, and affectionate. 
In him the friendless found a friend, the fatherless 
a father, and the poor a benefactor, a protector, and 
an advocate. "When the rich oppressed the indi- 
gent, when the powerful threatened the defenseless, 
when those in high places ventured to outrage jus- 
tice, then it was that Hamilton displayed the true 
grandeur and dignity of his nature, in defending 
the innocent, the defenseless, and the injured, with 
a scathing power of eloquence which filled the 
observer with mingled terror and admiration. 
When he perished, among the myriads of eyes 
which wept, there were not a few of the widows 
and orphans of the land who blessed his memory, 
and shed bitter tears over his untimely fate. In his 
domestic circle, he was ever most tenderly beloved, 
and he was eminently happy in that circle. 

But the chief glory of Hamilton was his celebrity 
as a statesman. He appeared upon the troubled 
ocean of the revolutionary era ; he rose at once to a 
lofty eminence ; and there he stood amid the furi- 



392 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

ously tossing and heaving floods, firm as a rock, 
towering in lonely majesty, with Washington only 
at his side ; and visible from afar as a noble monu- 
ment of greatness, unshaken by the raging storms 
above him or by the rolling waters beneath him. 
The part which Hamilton played in the organization 
and establishment of the federal government of this 
glorious republic, and his subsequent administration 
of its difiicult and involved financial affairs, will re- 
main until the latest period of recorded time, as 
one of the most honorable memorials in the history 
of statesmen. His task, which he so successfully 
accomplished, was more difiicult than most men, at 
this late day, would readily imagine. "We now be- 
hold the fair and perfect proportions of the edifice 
which he erected; but we do not see the hori-id 
and repulsive cliaos out of which he evoked so 
much order, beauty, and symmetry. That chaos 
seemed to most men, as it lay spread out in hideous 
and involved masses over the whole continent, im- 
mediately after the conclusion of the revolutionary 
war, utterly beyond the possibility of adjustment 
and arrangement. Thirteen conflicting and rival 
States, each with her own interests, passions, and 
jealousies to satisfy and to harmonize, formed the 
incongruous and heterogeneous bulk out of which 
the American confederacy was to be constructed. 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 3-^3 

It seemed a task which no human skill coi^ld 
achieve. Yet it was not too difficult or too elal o- 
rate for the genius and the skill of Hamilton. Out 
of all this boundless chaos, out of this immense 
mass of conflicting elements, the fair and majestic 
form of the American Federal Constitution gradu- 
ally arose, created by the masterly touch of his 
hand, and eventually overshadowed the whole con- 
tinent with its glory and benignant operation. A.8 
long as this confederacy shall survive the storms, of 
time ; as long as the land of "Washington shall re- 
main the home of freemen and the asylum of the 
oppressed ; as long as the pen of history shall 
record how powerful, happy, and glorious Ameri- 
cans have been under the influence and protection 
of this government and this Constitution, so long 
will the fame of Hamilton survive, fresh and fade- 
less, as the first of American statesmen, and as the 
the second of her patriots and her heroes. The name 
and fame of Hamilton will not die, until that dark 
day shall come when the name and fame of Wash- 
ton will also be remembered no more.* 

And yet Hamilton had his failings. We do 

* The permanent reduction of the national debt of the United 
States was due to the operation of the last report made by Mr. 
Hamilton, previous to his retirement from the Treasury, on the 
public credit. — See " Sullivan's Familiar LetterB," p. 62. 



394 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

not attempt to disguise them. He was a man of 
strong natural passions ; nor were those passions 
always kept under the control of that severer 
virtue which religion requires. Had not this one 
blemish existed in his character, the old adage, Hu- 
manum est errare, would for once have lost its univer- 
sal applicability and its oracular truth. Yet none 
are perfect ; and had Hamilton been absolutely free 
from fault, he had not been human. But the errors 
which he actually committed were as trifles when 
compared with the errors, of a similar description, 
which have been habitually perpetrated by many 
men who aspire to no humble place in the pan- 
theon of human fame and virtue. 

The chief error of Hamilton's life was his duel 
with Aaron Burr. It has been said of him that he 
should have had moral courage enough to de- 
cline the challenge ; and that he should have 
known, that his honorable career as a soldier and 
officer during the Revolution had sufficiently estab- 
lished his reputation for bravery to have defied the 
charge of cowardice under any circumstances. But 
it should be remembered also that public opinion at 
that period, was not as hostile to the practice of duel- 
ing as it is at present. And especially should it be 
borne in mind that Hamilton was a military man ; 
that his antagonist was a militai-y man ; and that 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 895 

the prejudices of military men on this subject are 
stronger, in the very nature of things, than those 
of other persons. Yet even these prejudices Hamil- 
ton had in a great measure overcome; and he had 
determined, in case he survived his interview with 
Burr, to have made a public protestation against 
the usage of dueling, and thrown -all the weight of 
his influence against it. 

The comparative innocence of Hamilton, even in 
that meeting, was more clearly evinced by the fact 
that it was his expressed determination not to fire 
at his opponent. This intention he declared both 
to his second Mr. Pendleton, and in writing pre- 
vious to the interview. His only fault was his rash 
exposure of his own life to the malignant vengeance 
of his enemy. For this crime we may hope he has 
amply atoned by his death, and by the many match- 
less virtues which adorned his life. He himself 
assigned a reason of no trifling moment for his 
intention to meet Col. Burr, which is in itself 
hio-hlv honorable to him. He asserted that he 
believed that if he declined the conflict, it would 
injure his future usefulness to his country, in the 
prosecution of those great measures which he yet 
contemplated, in consequence of the prevalent pre- 
judices which then existed in the community in 
favor of duelling. Patriotic motives, therefore, lay 



896 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

at the bottom even of tlie greatest and most fatal 
error of his life. 

The personal appearance of Mr. Hamilton was 
pleasing and attractive. When at the age of thirty- 
eight, he resumed the practice of the law in New 
York, in 1795, he was thus described : lie was 
under the middle size, thin in person, and very 
erect, courtly and dignified in his bearing. His 
hair was combed back from his forehead, pow- 
dered, and collected in a cue behind. His com- 
plexion was very delicate and fair, his cheeks rosy, 
and the whole expression pleasing and cheerful. 
His forehead was lofty, capacious and prominent. 
His appearance accorded well with the expectations 
which his prodigious fame excited. His voice was 
musical, his manner frank and impulsive. His 
ordinary dress was a blue coat with gilt buttons, a 
white silk waistcoat, black silk small-clothes, and 
white silk stockings. His figure, though slight, was 
well proportioned and graceful. His appearance 
and carriage betokened the possessor of a masterly 
intellect, and one fully conscious of his powers. 

It w^as the singular fate of the wife of Alexander 
Hamilton to survive him more than fifty years. 
During that long interval of widowhood, she re- 
ceived the boundless respect and sympathy of a 
grateful nation. Immediately after her husband's 



01 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 397 

death, she wrote the follo^\ing appropriate letter in 
reply to a communication of condolence sent her 
by the Order of the Cincinnati, to which her husband 
had belonged, and of which he had been President- 
General. 

" Albany, August 11th, 1804. 

" Sir : To the distress of a heart so deeply af- 
flicted as mine, from the irreparable loss of a most 
amiable and affectionate husband, I trust the re- 
spectable society in which you preside will impute 
the delay of an acknowledgment for their consola- 
tory letter, couched in terms that evince their sym- 
pathy emanates from the heart. 

" Although great mitigation of that aflliction, 
with which I am so severely depressed, can only be 
hoped from the mercies of the Divine Being, in 
whose dispensations it is the duty of his creatures 
humbly and devoutly to acquiesce ; yet the wounded 
heart derives a degree of consolation from the ten- 
derness with which its lot is bewailed by the virtu- 
ous, the wise, and humane — and also from that high 
honor and respect with which the memory of the 
dear deceased has been commemorated by them, 
and those contemplated in the resolutions of the 
Society of the Cincinnati, transmitted by you, and 
for which you, sir, will be pleased to convey my 
warmest thanks to that respectable body. 
34 



398 THE LIFE AND TIMES 

" I reciprocate with sensibility your and their re- 
commendation of me to the Divine care and protec- 
tion. May they ever enjoy it, and without alloy. 
I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
&c." 

Once only during the progress of her life was she 
afflicted with the sight of her husband's murderer. 
In the year 1822 she was traveling from 'New York 
to Albany on one of the boats on the Hudson 
river. The company had been summoned to din- 
ner. "When Mrs. Hamilton had almost reached her 
seat in the dining saloon, on raising her eyes she 
perceived Aaron Burr. standing directly opposite to 
her, with the narrow width of the table alone be- 
tween them. The shock was too much for her 
system, she uttered a loud scream, fell, and was 
carried in a fainting state from the apartment. As 
soon as she recovered she insisted on being set on 
shore at the first landing-place. She refused to 
journey farther on a vessel which contained the 
detested form of Aaron Burr. It is said that, after 
the removal of Mrs. Hamilton from the dininff 
saloon, Burr deliberately sat down and ate a hearty 
dinner with the utmost composure. The latter 
years of this excellent woman were spent in acts of 
charity and benevolence, in a public institution in 
the vicinity of New York. She died at length in 



OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 399 

1854, at the age of ninety-seven years and three 
months. Her husband was not unavenged. Besides 
the mighty load of universal obloquy and hate 
which overwhelmed Burr as the murderer of an 
innocent and illustrious victim, poverty and suffer- 
ing attended him during his remaining years. 
Thus when wandering in France, an exile and an 
outcast, suspected and frowned on by Napoleon, he 
records as follows in his diary of ISTovember 23, 1810 : 
" Nothing from America, and really I shall stai-ve. 
Borrowed three francs to-day. Four or five little 
debts keep me in constant alarm; all together, 
about two Louis. 

" December 1, 1810. came in upon me 

this morning, just as I was out of bed, for twenty- 
seven livres. Paid him, which took literally my 
last sous. When at Denon's, thought I might as 
well go to St. Pelasgie ; set off, but recollected I 
owed the woman who sits in the passage two sous 
for a cigar, so turned about to pursue my way by 
the Pont des Arts, which was within fifty paces ; re- 
membered I had not wherewith to pay the toll, 
being one sous ; had to go all the way round by the 
Pont Eoyal, more than half a mile." 

Burr was subsequently afilicted with the mysteri- 
ous and premature death of his daughter, Theodosia 
Alston, one of the most beautiful and accomplished 



400 THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HAMILTON. 

women of her time. She and her son were sup- 
posed to have been lost at sea. At length this 
aged curse of his country and disgrace of his race 
died at l^ew York, on the 14th of September, 1836, 
in the eighty-first year of his age. He survived his 
duel with General Hamilton more than thirty years ; 
and during that long and cheerless interval he 
passed through scenes of trial, anxiety, and suffer- 
ing which would have completely crushed any in- 
tellect not as powerful, and any heart not as ada- 
mantine, as his own. 



APPENDIX. 



No. I. 

FUNERAL PROCESSION OF HAMILTON. 

The Society of the Cincinnati being charged with the 
direction of the funeral ceremonies of its President-General, 
the following is the order of procession which will take 
place to-morrow at ten o'clock, as commemorative of an 
event of the deepest national regret. 

OEDER OP PROCESSION. 

1. The Military Corps, commanded by Col. Morton. 

2. The Society of the Cincinnati. 

3. Clergy of all denominations. 

4. The Corpse. 

5. The General's Horse. 

6. Relations of the deceased, 
t. Physicians. 

8. The Judges of the Supreme Court. 

9. Mr. Gouverneur Morris in his carriage. 

10. Gentlemen of the Bar and Students at Law. 

11. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the State. 

12. The Mayor and Corporation of the City. 

13. Members of Congress and Civil Officers of the United 
States. 

14. The Ministers, Consuls, and Residents of Foreign 
Powers. 

15. The Officers of the Army and Navy of the United 
States. 

34* (401) ' 



402 APPENDIX. 

16. Military and Naval OfiRcers of Foreign Powers. 
n. Militia Officers of the State. 

18. President, Directors, and Officers of the respective 
Banks. 

19. Chamber of Commerce and Merchants. 

20. Marine Society, Wardens of the Port, and Masters 
and Officers of all vessels in the Harbor. 

21. The President, Professors, and Students of Colum- 
bia College. 

22. The different Societies in such order as their respec- 
tive Presidents may arrange. 

23. The Citizens in general. 

The Military Corps commanded by Col. Morton being 
ordered to parade in the Park at 10 o'clock, accompanied 
with six pieces of Artillery, two of the pieces will remain 
on the ground under the command of Capt. Maclean, and 
will fire minute guns from the movement of the Corpse until 
it arrives at Trinity Church. 

FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. 

On Saturday, the next day, the remains of Alexander 
Hamilton were committed to the grave, with every possi- 
ble testimony of respect and sorrow. The following will 
present the reader with a correct account of the manner in 
which the sad solemnities were conducted. 

The Military, under the command of Lieutenant-Col. 
Morton, were drawn up in front of Mr. Church's house, in 
Robinson -street, where the body had been deposited. On 
the appearance of the Corpse it was received by the whole 
line with presented arms, and saluted by the officers; — 
melancholy Music by a large and elegant Band. 

The Military then preceded the bier, in open column 
and inverted order, the left in front, with arras reversed, 
the Band playing a Dead March. At 12 o'clock the pro- 



FUNERAL PROCESSION OF HAMILTON. 403 

cession moved in the following order, through Beekman, 
Pearl, and Whitehall-streets, and up Broadway to the 
Church : 

The Artillery. 

The 6th Regiment of Militia. 

Flank Companies. 

Cincinnati Society. 

A numerous train of Clergy of all denominations. 

THE CORPSE WITH PALL BEARERS. 

The General's horse appropriately dressed. 

His Children and Relatives. 

Physicians. 

Gouverneur Morris, the funeral orator, in his carriage. 

The Gentlemen of the Bar, all in deep mourning. 
The Lieutenant-Governor of the State, in his carriage. 
Corporation of the city of New York. 
Resident Agents of Foreign Powers. 
Officers of our Army and Navy. 
Military and Naval Officers of Foreign Powers. 
Militia Officers of the State. 
The various Officers of the respective Banks. 
Chamber of Commerce and Merchants. 
Wardens of the Port, and Masters of vessels in the Harbor. 
The President, Professors, and Students of Columbia Col- 
lege, in mourning gowns. 
St. Andrew's Society, mostly in mourning. 
Tammany Society. 
Mechanic Society. 

Marine Society. 
Citizens in general. 
The Pall was supported by 
General Matthew Clarkson, 
Oliver Wolcott, Esquire, 
Richard Harison, Esquire, 



404 APPENDIX. 

Abijah Ilammond, Esquire, 
Josiah Ogdeu Hoifman, Esquire, 
Richard Yarick, Esquire, 
William Bayard, Esquire, and 
His Honor Judge Lawrence. 
On the top of the coffin was the General's hat and sword ; 
his boots and s}Durs reversed across the horse. His gray 
horse, dressed in mourning, was led by two black servants 
dressed in white, and white turbans trimmed with black. 

The streets were lined with people ; doors and windows 
were filled principally with weeping females ; and even the 
house tops were covered with spectators, who came from 
all parts to behold the melancholy procession. 

When the advance platoon of the Military reached the 
Church, the whole column wheeled backward by sections 
from the flanks of platoons, forming a lane, bringing their 
muskets to a reversed order, and resting the cheek on the 
butt of the piece in the customary attitude of grief. Through 
the avenue thus formed, the Corpse, preceded by the clergy 
of different denominations and Society of Cincinnati, and 
followed by the relations of the deceased, and different pub- 
lic bodies, advanced to the Church, the Bands, with drums 
muffled, playing all the time a pensive, solemn air. 



DEATH-BED SCENE OF AARON BURR. 405 



No. IT. 

DEATH-BED SCI^NE OF AARON" BURR. 

It has generally been believed that Burr died an unbe- 
liever, refusing religious consolation. A distinguished 
Episcopal minister, in preaching a sermon to the young 
men of Washington city, alluded to Col. Burr's supposed 
religious infidelity, which led to the following highly inte-» 
resting letter of the venerable Rev. Dr. Yanpelt: 

" Thursday, Hammond-st., N. Y., Dec. 13, 1855. 

" Mr. Sam. C. Reid, Jr. — My dear Sir : I received yours 
of Monday, 10th inst., last evening, in which you ' desire 
me to give you a full statement of all the facts concerning 
the last moments of Colonel Aaron Burr,' &c. In com- 
pliance with your desire, I state — that in the summer, about 
the 20th June, 1836, Colonel A. Burr came to Port Rich- 
mond Hotel, Staten Island, where he took board, near which 
I then resided, as also did the relative and friend of Colonel 
Burr, Judge Ogden Edwards. The Colonel (Burr) being 
a valetudinarian, in feeble health, Judge Edwards solicited 
me, as often as I conveniently could, to visit him, and ad- 
minister the consolation of religion to him, which, he said, 
was desired by Col. Burr, and would be agreeable to him. 

Accordingly, from that time till the 13th of September, 
1836, the day on which he died at the said Port Richmond 
House, I visited him as a minister of the Grospel, once or 
twice a week. At these consecutive interviews I was uni- 
formly received by him with his accustomed politeness and 
urbanity of manner. The time spent with him at each inter- 
view — which was an hour, more or less — was chiefly employed 



406 APPENDIX. 

in religious conversations, adapting to his declining health, 
his feeble state of body, and his advanced age, concluding 
by prayer to Almighty God for the exercise of his great 
mercy, the influence of his Holy Spirit and divine blessing. 
In all which he appeared to take an interest and be pleased, 
and particularly would thank me for the prayers I offered 
up in his behalf, for my kind offices, and the interest I took 
in his spiritual welfare, saying it gave him pleasure to see 
me and hear my voice. And when I reminded him of the 
advantages he had enjoyed, of his honored and pious an- 
cestry, viz. : his father a minister of the Gospel, and Presi- 
dent of the College at Princeton, New Jersey, and his mo- 
ther a descendant of the learned and celebrated divine 
Jonathan Edwards ; and that doubtless many prayers had 
gone up to Heaven from the hearts of his parents for his 
well-being and happiness, it seemed to affect him. And 
when I asked him as to his views of the Holy Scriptures, 
he responded — ' They are the most perfect system of truth 
the world has ever seen.' So that judging from his own 
declaration and behavior to me, as his spiritual adviser, he 
was not an atheist nor a deist. 

" I did not administer the holy sacrament to him, nor did 
he suggest and request me to do it. 

" In regard to other topics, in the course of repeated con- 
versations, he remarked he was near General Montgomery 
when he fell at Quebec ; and that notwithstanding that dis- 
aster, if- the army had pushed on, they would have suc- 
ceeded. In reference to the affair and death of General 
Hamilton but little was said. He intimated, however, that 
he was provoked to that encounter. 

" At my last interview with him, about 12 o'clock at noon, 
the day he departed this life, about 2 o'clock, p. m., as 
aforesaid, September 13, 1836, I found him as usual, 



DEATH BED SCENE OF AARON BURR. 407 

pleased to see me, tranquil ia mind, and not disturbed by 
bodily pain. 

"Observing a paleness and change in his countenance, and 
nis pulse tremulous, fluttering and erratic, I asked him how 
he felt. He replied, not so well as when I saw him last. 
I then said, ' Colonel, I do not wish to alarm you, but 
judging from the state of your pulse, your time with us is 
short.' He replied, 'I am aware of it.' It was then 
near 1 o'clock, p. M., and his mind and memory seemed 
perfect. I said to him, ' In this solemn hour of your appa- 
rent dissolution, believing, as you do, in the sacred Scrip- 
tures, your accountability to God, let me ask you how you 
feel in view of approaching eternity ; whether you have 
good hope, through grace, that all your sins will be par- 
doned, and God will, in mercy, pardon you, for the sake 
of the merits and righteousness of his beloved son, our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who in love suffered and died for us the 
agonizing, bitter death of the cross, by whom alone we can 
have the only sure hope of salvation ?' To which he said, 
with deep and evident emotion, ' On that subject I am 
coy ;' by which I understood him to mean, that on a subject 
of such magnitude and momentous interest, touching the 
assurance of his salvation, he felt coy, cautious (as the word 
denotes) to express himself in full confidence. 

"With his usual cordial concurrence and manifest desire 
we kneeled in prayer before the throne of heavenly grace — 
imploring God's mercy and blessing. He turned in his 
bed, and put himself in an humble devotional posture, and 
seemed deeply engaged in the religious service, thanking 
me, as usual, for the prayer made for him. 

" Calm and composed, I recommended him to the mercy of 
God and to the word of his grace, with a last farewell. 
At about 2 o'clock, p. m., without a groan or a struggle, 
he breathed his last. His death was easy and gentle as a 



408 APPENDIX. . 

taper in the socket, and as the summer's wave that dies 
upon the shore. Thus died Col. Aaron Burr. 

" His first funeral service was performed by rae in the Port 
Richmond House, where he died. Thence we took his 
remains to the chapel of Princeton College, N. J., where 
Dr. Carnahan, the President, and myself, performed his 
last funeral service before the students, the faculty, the 
military, and a numerous assemblage, and he was buried, 
as he requested, in the sepulchre of his ancestors. 

" With respects, P. J. Vanpelt," 



THE END. 



